Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, bandleader, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey.
Described as a "visionary" by Vibe and a "mastermind" by Variety, White was nominated for a total of 22 Grammys, of which he won seven. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, and was also inducted individually into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. White also worked with musical acts such as Deniece Williams, Cher, The Emotions, Barbra Streisand, Ramsey Lewis, and Neil Diamond.
Biography
Early career
Maurice White was born in Memphis, Tennessee, on December 19, 1941. He grew up in South Memphis, where he lived with his grandmother in the Foote Homes Projects and was a childhood friend of Booker T. Jones and David Porter. Along with Jones, White formed a "cookin' little band" while attending Booker T. Washington High School. He also made frequent trips to Chicago to visit his mother, Edna, and stepfather, Verdine Adams, who was a doctor and occasional saxophonist. During his teenage years, White moved to Chicago where he studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, and played drums in local nightclubs. In 1962 he joined The Jazzmen, a student jazz trio at Crane Junior College in Chicago, Illinois formed by Louis Satterfield on trombone, Charles Handy on trumpet, and Don Myrick on alto saxophone. The Jazzmen later became the Pharaohs. Satterfield, White, and Handy became studio musicians at Chess Records in Chicago. While at Chess, he appeared, as a drummer, on the records of artists like Etta James, Chuck Berry, Rotary Connection, Junior Wells, Sonny Stitt, Muddy Waters, the Impressions, the Dells, Betty Everett, Willie Dixon, Sugar Pie DeSanto and Buddy Guy. White also played the drums on Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" (with Satterfield on bass), Billy Stewart's "Summertime" and Jackie Wilson's "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher".
In June 1966, he left Chess and the Pharaohs to join the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Isaac "Red" Holt as the group's drummer. Holt and bassist Eldee Young left to form Young-Holt Unlimited. Young was also replaced by Cleveland Eaton. As a member of the Trio, Maurice played on several of their albums. One of these was 1966's Wade in the Water. The album track "Hold It Right There" went on to win a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Group Performance, Vocal or Group. With the Trio, White also played on 1966's The Movie Album and 1967's Goin' Latin. He also performed on the Trio's 1968 LPs Dancing in the Street, Up Pops Ramsey Lewis, Mother Nature's Son and Maiden Voyage. While in the group White was introduced in a Chicago drum store to the African thumb piano or kalimba. The track "Uhuru" on the Trio's 1969 LP Another Voyage featured the first recording of White playing the kalimba.
In 1969, White left the Trio and joined his two friends, Wade Flemons and Don Whitehead, to form a songwriting team who wrote songs for commercials in the Chicago area. The three friends got a recording contract with Capitol Records and called themselves the Salty Peppers. They had a moderate hit in the Midwest area with their single "La La Time", but their second single, "Uh Huh Yeah", was not as successful. White then moved from Chicago to Los Angeles, and altered the name of the band to Earth, Wind & Fire, the band's new name reflecting the elements in his astrological chart.
Earth, Wind & Fire
With Maurice as the bandleader, co lead singer and producer of most of the band's albums, EWF became an acclaimed as well as illustrious group, being bestowed with six Grammy Awards out of 17 nominations, a star on the Hollywood Boulevard Walk of Fame, and four American Music Awards. What's more the group's albums have sold over 90 million copies worldwide. Accordingly with the band Maurice was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, The Songwriters Hall of Fame and The NAACP Image Awards Hall of Fame.