Maurice White, 74; founder of Earth, Wind & Fire . Phil
McCarten/associated press/file 2004 Mr. White's band's sound was a
horn-driven mix of jazz, funk, gospel, and Big Band music. NEW YORK -
Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, whose horn-driven band sold
more than 90 million albums and made hits like "September," "Shining
Star," and "Boogie Wonderland," died Wednesday at his home in Los
Angeles, his brother Verdine said. Mr. White, who was 74, suffered from
Parkinson's disease and had retreated from the public even as the band
he founded kept performing. "My brother, hero, and best friend Maurice
White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep," Verdine White,
also a member of the band, said Thursday. "While the world has lost
another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is
respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life-changing
transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.
Earth, Wind & Fire, a nine-piece band featuring the two White brothers,
singer Philip Bailey, and a distinctive horn section, were inducted
into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. The band's most successful
period started with the 1975 album "That's The Way of The World" and
continued through the rest of the decade. Other hits included
"Serpentine Fire," "That's the Way of the World," and a cover of the
Beatles' "Got to Get You Into My Life. Mr. White publicly revealed he
had Parkinson's at the time of the band's Hall of Fame induction, but
he had shown symptoms of the neurological disease back in the 1980s. He
stopped touring with the band in 1995 because of weariness from the
road combined with his health problems. Mr. White said in an interview
in 2000 that he wanted the band's music to inspire instead of just
entertain. "That was the whole objective, to try to inspire young
people to believe in themselves and to follow through on their ideas,"
he said. "We've touched so many people with these songs. A former
session drummer, Mr. White founded the band Salty Peppers in the
Chicago area in the late 1960s and had some modest success in the
Midwest. After relocating to Los Angeles and ditching all of the band
members except Verdine, he renamed the outfit Earth, Wind & Fire after
the three elements in his astrological chart. Bailey's bright falsetto
defined many of Earth, Wind & Fire's hits. "We experienced pure magic
together," Bailey said during the band's Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
induction, standing next to Mr. White. The band's early sound was
jazzy, but evolved into an exuberant, horn-driven mix of jazz, funk,
gospel, and Big Band music. Their appeal wasn't just on records but on
stage, their concerts a whirl of dancing, fog machines, multi-colored
lights, and glittery costumes. Earth, Wind & Fire performed everywhere
from the Super Bowl to the White House. Maurice White also had a
substantial side career producing other artists, including Barbra
Streisand and Cher. In the 1970s, he co-wrote and co-produced the
Emotions' No. 1 hit "Best of My Love. Mr. White was born in Memphis in
1941, the son of a doctor and grandson of a New Orleans piano player.
He showed musical gifts at an early age, studying at the Chicago
Conservancy. During the 1960s, he backed Muddy Waters, the Impressions,
and others and worked as a session drummer in Chicago. The band
performed in the movie, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and had
hits with the ballad "After the Love Has Gone," "All 'n' All," "Let's
Groove," and "Fall in Love With Me. The band took a four-year hiatus in
the 1980s and then returned, its primary success then on the road. "We
live in a negative society," Mr. White told Newsweek at the height of
the band's success. "Most people can't see beauty and love. I see our
music as medicine.
