"Play That Funky Music" is a song written by Rob Parissi and recorded by the band Wild Cherry.

[4] The performers on the recording included lead singer Parissi, electric guitarist Bryan Bassett, bassist Allen Wentz, and drummer Ron Beitle, with session players Chuck Berginc, Jack Brndiar (trumpets), and Joe Eckert and Rick Singer (saxes) on the horn riff that runs throughout the song's verses.

Wild Cherry was a hard rock cover band, but with the advent and popularity of the disco era, the group found it increasingly difficult to book gigs.

Parissi attempted to persuade his bandmates to incorporate dance tunes into their sets, but they resisted as they did not want to be tagged with the stigma of being "disco".

The lyrics literally describe the predicament of a hard rock band adjusting to the disco era.

American rapper Vanilla Ice later released a song featuring an interpretation of "Play That Funky Music".

[58] In the season 8 episode of The Big Bang Theory, "The Skywalker Intrusion", Sheldon Cooper says to Leonard Hofstadter "Play that funky music, white boy" when Leonard turns on the car radio, though Sheldon is unfamiliar with the cultural reference.