Editing Les Claypool (section)

===Primus===
{{Main|Primus (band)}}
[[File:Primus copenhagen 1998 (cropped Les).jpg|thumb|right|200px|Claypool in 1998]]
[[Primus (band)|Primus]] began as "Primate" in the mid-1980s. The band featured Claypool on bass, [[Todd Huth]] on guitar, and various drummers (most notably [[Jay Lane]]); however, Huth and Lane left shortly thereafter to pursue other projects. Claypool replaced them with guitarist [[Larry LaLonde]] and drummer [[Tim Alexander]].

Claypool is considered to be the leader of the band, as well as the driving force behind its blending of [[Funk music|funk]] with other genres. He frequently utilizes the slap-bass technique prominent in funk music, and is the only member of Primus who comes from a funk background. Because of Claypool's strong funk influence, Primus is often described as "[[Thrash metal|thrash]]-funk" or [[funk metal]],<ref name="Spin Jan 91">{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z9fMwxwJ7tkC&pg=PA39 |page=39 |title=The Thrash-Funk scene proudly presents Primus |last1=Darzin |first1=Daina |last2=Spencer |first2=Lauren |journal=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=January 1991 |volume=6 |number=10}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.guitarworld.com/primus-set-release-new-album-green-naugahyde-september |title=Primus Set To Release New Album, 'Green Naugahyde,' This September |last=Hart |first=Josh |date=June 6, 2011 |work=Guitar World |access-date=August 17, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924125326/http://www.guitarworld.com/primus-set-release-new-album-green-naugahyde-september |archive-date=September 24, 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-dec-04-ca-40260-story.html |date=December 4, 1999 |title=Primus Mixes Metal With a Bit of Satire |last=Weingarten |first=Mark |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref><ref name="MusicOMH 2014">{{cite journal |url=http://www.musicomh.com/reviews/albums/primus-primus-chocolate-factory-fungi-ensemble |title=Album Reviews: Primus – Primus & The Chocolate Factory and the Fungi Ensemble |date=November 3, 2014 |first=Dylan |last=Kilby |journal=Music OMH }}</ref> although Claypool dislikes the labels. He said, "We've been lumped in with the funk metal thing just about everywhere. I guess people just have to categorize you.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Primus: Nice and Cheesy |journal=Hot Metal |location=Sydney, Australia |last=Potter |first=Valerie |date=July 1991 |volume=29}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |title=New Rage: The Funky |last=Gore |first=Joe |journal=Guitar Player |date=August 1991 |quote=Last year's ''Frizzle Fry'' made a bigger splash and coincided with the full-blown emergence of the San Francisco thrash-funk scene, a loose network of bands fusing hard rock and dance elements... And despite Les' slap-happy chops and the sudden marketability of metal-edged dance grooves, Claypool chafes at the 'thrash-funk' label. 'The term pretty much makes my lips curl,' he states. 'Still, it's more accurate than calling us a funk band, since I'm the only one in the group with any sort of funk background.'}}</ref>

From 1989 to 2000, Primus gained significant mainstream airplay, headlining [[Lollapalooza]] in 1993 and appearing on ''[[Late Show with David Letterman]]'' and ''[[Late Night with Conan O'Brien]]'' in 1995. They also appeared at [[Woodstock '94]], where they performed their ''[[Pork Soda]]'' hit "[[My Name Is Mud]]" and were pelted with mud by the audience, much to the band's displeasure. It drove Claypool to stop playing telling the audience "the song's called My Name is Mud, but keep the mud to yourself you son of a bitch".<ref>[https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6221688/exclusive-primus-les-claypool-talks-woodstock-94-20-years-later Primus' Les Claypool Talks Woodstock '94, 20 Years Later] billboard.com</ref> In 1991, the band was featured in the movie ''[[Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey]]''  performing their song "[[Tommy the Cat]]" live. Claypool and [[Tom Waits]] first recorded on each other's records in 1991 and have continued to do so since. In 1997, Primus was asked to play and record the theme song for the animated television show ''[[South Park]]''. In 1999, Claypool allowed Activision's use of the song "[[Jerry Was a Race Car Driver]]" in the popular video game ''[[Tony Hawk's Pro Skater]]''. Primus went on hiatus in 2000.

In mid-2003, Claypool reunited with former Primus drummer Tim Alexander and guitarist Larry LaLonde to record a DVD/EP called ''[[Animals Should Not Try to Act Like People]]''. In October of the same year, the band embarked on a two-month tour in which two sets were performed per show, the second set consisting of their 1991 release ''[[Sailing the Seas of Cheese]]'' being performed in its entirety. Primus continued touring into 2004, performing their 1990 release ''[[Frizzle Fry]]'' as their second set, as documented on the DVD ''[[Hallucino-Genetics]]: Live 2004''.

On October 17, 2006, Primus released both their first greatest hits album, ''[[They Can't All Be Zingers]]'', and their third DVD, ''Blame It on the Fish'', subtitled ''An Abstract Look at the 2003 Primus Tour De Fromage.'' The band toured in 2006 on their Primus: The Beat a Dead Horse Tour 2006, and played at a small number of festivals in 2008. In 2010, Alexander, who had left the band for the second time due to lack of interest, was replaced by Jay Lane, who had not played with the band since 1988.  The band resumed touring after the free ''[[June 2010 Rehearsal]]'' was released later that year, and a studio album, ''[[Green Naugahyde]]'', was released in 2011.

In 2013, Lane left Primus for the second time to focus on his other band [[RatDog]], who were coming off hiatus at the time, and was replaced again by Alexander. Primus' eighth studio album, ''[[Primus & the Chocolate Factory with the Fungi Ensemble]]'', a re-imagining of the [[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory#Track listing|soundtrack]] from the 1971 film ''[[Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory]]'', was released in October 2014.

In 2017, Primus released ''[[The Desaturating Seven]]'', an album that is based on a bedtime story published by Italian author [[Ul de Rico]], which is about a group of rainbow eating goblins. They then started a tour with [[Mastodon (band)|Mastodon]] through most of 2018.

In 2024, Alexander resigned from Primus "effective immediately," seemingly retiring from music due to a "lost passion to play." The band announced plans to continue touring with members from Claypool's other bands and began searching for "the world's best drummer" to replace Alexander on X (formerly Twitter).