Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White dies

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 Los Angeles home after a long bout with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 74.

The band’s bassist, Verdine White, Maurice’s brother, announced the news Thursday: “My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep. … Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.”

Maurice White was born into a musical family in Memphis, Tenn., in 1941. His father was a doctor who played sax, while his grandfather played piano in New Orleans. According to his website, White began singing in church at age 6.

After seeing a local drum and bugle corps march down the street, White was moved at an early age to pursue a musical career. He later cited the band’s “shiny suits” as the inspiration for the glitzy onstage costumes worn later by Earth, Wind & Fire. After high school, he moved with his family to Illinois to study percussion at the Chicago Conservancy.

During the 1960s, White worked as a session drummer for Chess Records. For five years he perfected his craft, tapping out beats for such greats as Muddy Waters, Etta James, and Howlin’ Wolf. During this period, he became fascinated with the African thumb piano or Kalimba—a name and sound that became closely associated with his work.

In the late 1960s, White formed the band Salty Peppers. The group had moderate success in the Midwest, but he eventually replaced all members of the band, save his brother Verdine. Using an astrological chart, White renamed the group Earth, Wind & Fire.

The nine-piece band centered around the two White brothers, the spiraling falsettos of singer (and sometime Christian recording artist) Philip Bailey, and the distinctive Phenix Horns section. The band’s early sound was jazzy, but evolved into an exuberant, horn-driven mix of jazz, funk, gospel, and Big Band. Perhaps the group’s most iconic song is the uplifting, finger-snapping, nostalgic “September” that layers brass in the tune’s opening bars.

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,” “Let’s Groove,” “After the Love Has Gone,” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life.”

“I always felt certain affinities with the idea of being a preacher,” White said, when asked about the band’s origins. White wanted Earth, Wind & Fire’s music to inspire—not just entertain: “Most people can’t see beauty and love. I see our music as medicine.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.