Bernard Thomas (August 22, 1948 – June 16, 2019), better known as Bishop Bullwinkle, was an American singer/comedian best known for appearing in the viral YouTube video " Hell to the Naw Naw".

Background

Bishop Bullwinkle's real name was Bernard Thomas. The Bullwinkle part of his name came from a childhood nickname; while in school, a classmate of his wrote on the bulletin board, "Bernard Thomas is funny like

Bullwinkle the moose Bullwinkle J. Moose is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the 1959–1964 animated television series ''Rocky and His Friends'' and ''The Bullwinkle Show'', often collectively referred to as ''The Rocky and Bullwinkle Sh ...

". He was based in Florida. He had mixed reactions to his style and song content, drawing both praise and condemnation. He is from Plant City, Florida. In 2022,

Azie Faison Azie Faison Jr. (born November 10, 1964), sometimes known by the nickname AZ, is an American former drug dealer and businessman from Harlem, New York City. He attained notoriety during the War on Drugs era as an individual drug dealer during the ...

claimed that Bishop Bullwinkle was the same Bernard Thomas that founded Eric B. & Rakim.

"Hell to the Naw Naw"

In the music video which is shot outdoors, Thomas is seen in a white suit, wearing sunglasses and a white hat. It was originally released January 1, 2014. The props used are a podium with a monkey and fire extinguisher resting on it. By July 22, 2015, the video went viral and got over 200,000 views with over 4,000 likes. As of August 15, 2020, a video of the song attracted over 95 million views and 780,000 likes. Another video has attracted over 12 million views and over 218,000 likes. The song was even played on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

. A video of an 86-year-old grandmother dancing to the song went viral in a very short time. Beverly Jenkins uploaded the video of her grandmother Claudia Haggerty dancing to the song. By September 4, 2015, it had attracted 3 million views since it was posted. It was shared over 100,000 times on Facebook. Bullwinkle attracted mixed reactions for his video and song, which is about the hypocrisy of some preachers and parishioners.

Appearances

Along with

Clarence Carter Clarence George Carter (born January 14, 1936) is an American singer, songwriter, musician and record producer. His most successful songs include "Slip Away (Clarence Carter song), Slip Away", "Back Door Santa" (both released 1968), "Patches (Ch ...

, Sir Charles Jones, Theodis Ealey, and

Denise LaSalle Ora D. Allen (July 16, 1934 – January 8, 2018), known by the stage name Denise LaSalle, was an American blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who, since the death of Koko Taylor, had been recognized as the "Queen of th ...

, he was scheduled to appear at the 13th Annual Chi-Town Blues Festival at Merrillville's Star Plaza Theatre on March 4, 2017. On March 11, he was scheduled to appear at the 11th Annual Motor City Blues Festival, an event which included

Sir Charles Jones Sir Charles Jones (born April 25, 1973) is an American blues and Southern soul singer. Biography Jones was born in Akron, Ohio. When he was young, his family moved to Birmingham, Alabama, where he was raised. It was in Birmingham where his singing ...

Willie Clayton Willie Clayton (born March 29, 1955) is an American Chicago blues and soul-blues singer and songwriter. He has recorded over 25 albums since the 1980s. He has been performing since the late 1960s. His chart successes span the decades from the 1 ...

, Bigg Robb,

Shirley Brown Shirley Brown (born January 6, 1947, West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American R&B singer, best known for her million-selling single " Woman to Woman", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975. Biography Brown was born in West Memphis, bu ...

, and TK Soul. In June 2017, he was booked to appear at the Southern Soul and Blues Lovers Festival in

Tuscaloosa, Alabama Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal Plain, Gulf Coastal and Piedmont (United States), Piedm ...

. He was booked to appear at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena on September 9, 2017, but it was rescheduled for Friday, November 10, 2017.

Death

Thomas died on June 16, 2019, in Tampa, Florida. His cause of death was a heart attack. He was 70 years old. The funeral ceremony was on June 29, 2019.

Bay News 9 Bay News 9 (also officially known as Spectrum Bay News 9 as of September 24, 2017) is a cable news television network located in St. Petersburg, Florida. Owned by Charter Communications, it currently serves the Tampa Bay area including Hillsb ...

, June 17, 2019
Tampa Area Viral Musician Known for “Hell to the Naw Naw” Dies at 70 By Saundra Weathers
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Discography

Compilation albums

Singles

As lead artist

As featured artist

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bullwinkle, Bishop 1948 births 2019 deaths 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers American soul singers Musicians from Tampa, Florida