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Maurice White

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Vocalist

The Resume

    (December 19, 1941-February 4, 2016)
    Born in Memphis, Tennessee
    Singer, drummer, songwriter and producer
    Member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio (1966-69)
    Founded Earth, Wind and Fire (1969)
    Recorded the solo album ‘Maurice White’ (1985)
    Produced the singles ‘Best of My Love’ by the Emotions and ‘Free’ by Deniece Williams
    Won an individual Grammy for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists (1978)
    Won six additional Grammys as a member of Earth, Wind and Fire
    Inducted into the Songwriter Hall of Fame (2010)

Why he might be annoying:

    He named the band Earth, Wind and Fire after the elements in his astrological sign (Sagittarius).
    In addition to astrology, he was also into transcendental meditation, vegetarianism and yoga.
    One critic described his lyrics as ‘like the whole of the 70s self-help movement mastered onto a 45.’
    Philip Bailey complained about White’s increasing domination of EW&F, ‘We did countless records where we were little more than sidemen. It became like work, and the magic went away.’

Why he might not be annoying:

    As a session drummer for Chess Records, he played on the hit singles ‘Rescue Me’ by Fontella Bass and ‘Summertime’ by Billy Stewart.
    His songs incorporated elements of pop, soul, funk, jazz and African and Latin percussion.
    He had to quit touring with EW&F in the 1990s due to effects of Parkinson’s disease.
    He said, ‘All of our songs had that positive energy. To create uplifting music was the objective.’

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 7 Votes: 57.14% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 72 Votes: 45.83% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 24 Votes: 29.17% Annoying