Leslie Edward Claypool (born September 29, 1963) is an American musician, best known as the founder, lead singer, bassist, and primary songwriter of Primus. Ranked as one of the greatest bassists of all time by Rolling Stone, his unique playing style mixes tapping, flamenco-like strumming, whammy bar bends, and slapping and popping.
Claypool has been involved in a number of non-Primus projects, including supergroups such as Oysterhead (with Trey Anastasio and Stewart Copeland) and Colonel Claypool's Bucket of Bernie Brains (with Buckethead, Bryan Mantia, and Bernie Worrell) and duos such as Duo de Twang (with Bryan Kehoe) and The Claypool Lennon Delirium (with Sean Lennon). He also fronts the experimental rock projects Colonel Les Claypool's Fearless Flying Frog Brigade and Les Claypool's Fancy Band. He has produced and engineered several of his own releases from Rancho Relaxo, which is his studio in California.
Claypool appears in the opening titles of the animated comedy series South Park, for which Primus has performed the theme song since its debut in 1997. In 2006, he made his debut as both a filmmaker and author when he wrote and directed the mockumentary Electric Apricot: Quest For Festeroo and released the novel South of the Pumphouse.
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Primus brought Les Claypool’s Claypool Gold tour to The Salt Shed in Chicago on June 3rd for a night of bass-heavy psychedelia, off-kilter grooves, and cross-project collaborations. The evening featured sets from Les Claypool’s Frog Brigade, The Claypool Lennon Delirium, and Primus, offering a broad look at Claypool’s creative universe. Sean Ono Lennon joined Claypool for the Delirium set,...
Pachyderm Instruments has announced a limited run of signed Whamola Tour Edition instruments available at the Claypool Gold Tour merch booth.
Primus has released a new four-song EP, A Handful of Nuggs, featuring the new track “The Ol’ Grizz” with Les Claypool’s furious bass work.
Les Claypool and Sean Ono Lennon unveil "The Great Parrot-Ox and the Golden Egg of Empathy," a psychedelic concept album exploring A.I., empathy, and free will.
Les Claypool’s Fearless Flying Frog Brigade will release "Return of the Live Frogs: Volume 1" on May 22, 2026, just as the Claypool Gold tour gets underway.
