Maurice White (Earth, Wind & Fire) Passed Away at 74

Earth, Wind & Fire founder Maurice White, whose band sold over 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.

White, who was 74, suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and had retreated from the public even as the band he founded kept performing.

Rest In Peace.

Via abcnews

Davey D:

Sad to hear Maurice White, founder of Earth, Wind and Fire passed yesterday.. Unfortunately, I don’t think the praises that are due to him will fully be expressed. I don’t think folks realize or can fully appreciate how transformative a group Earth Wind &Fire was and has been over the years and how much of a game changer Maurice was..

Many will know the group for their big hits like ‘September’ and ‘Lets Groove’.. They were great songs, but for the most part they were pop songs enjotyed by the masses who never understood the depth and true soulfulness of the group.. What I recall most about EW&F was that in the 70s they were seen as hard hitting funk group that people would spend their last dollar to see..

They were slapping in terms of how the streets saw them, more than the other groups out at that time including the Jacksons and more than James… I recall my older cousins throwing down to two groups that dominated at that time.. George Clinton and Parliament/ Funkadelic and Earth Wind and Fire.. I recall them going to the sold out shows at Madison Square Garden to see this EW&F. Their horn section was like no other..Their harmonies on hit.. Maurice’s falsetto vocals were on point and game changing..

While the masses grooved to the pop hits.. others were banging jams like ‘The World Today’,’Serpertine’ Fire’ ‘Mighty Mighty’, ‘Jupiter’ ‘Fantasy’ and ‘Running’… Their ‘All and All” album was in every deejay’s crates and to be honest in 2016, that album should still be in people’s crates..

For those of us into the emerging Hip Hop song.. EW&F was known to us because of their famous Brazilian song.. which was only 2 minutes long, but the ultimate break where folks took a break to let make key announcements and let everyone know what was up..

I can’t tell you how many times that jam was played at gigs..Grandmaster Flash and Furious 4 later Five made that their signature interlude..

And for those who were up on game and had their chops when it came to catching wreck, their jam Africano had the killer break..Over the years all sorts of folks within Hip Hop would record with that horn section..

Of course everyone loved and respected the group for having the ultimate slow songs.. ‘Devotion’, ‘Can’t Hide Love’ and the greatest love song of ALL-TIME.. Reasons.. The 8 minute live version off the ‘Gratitude’ album.. If anyone tells you anything different, then they are full of crap, never heard the song or on crack.. Those people who disagree need to be removed from the planet..You can quote me on that.. That has hands down Greatest love song EVER…

Bottom line Maurice White was a strong presence for multiple generations and different peoples all over the world-from the 1970s up to now..From the time they did the sound track to Melvin Van Peeples’ Sweet Sweatback Baddass Song’ to the time they performed at the Superbowl, the only group to consistently match that was Michael Jackson..Rest in Power Maurice White.. you will surely be missed… ‪#‎nuffsaid‬..