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Founding Member of Earth, Wind & Fire Maurice White Dead at 74 - Report and History

4,316 views · Published 5 February 2016 · 1:34 · Indexed 7 October 2026

Channel: Rock History Music · 2016 · People & Blogs

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https://lp.constantcontactpages.com/sl/9qk7AEY The Founder of Earth Wind and Fire Has Died – Maurice White was 74
He battled Parkinson Disease since the early 90's and had to stop touring with Earth, Wind and Fire in 1994. We lost Maurice White this morning in L.A.

White was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1941. He became a session drummer for Chess record in Chicago as a teen playing with Etta James, Ramsey Lewis, Muddy Waters, The Impressions and Buddy Guy.

He first touched fame in the middle of the sixties as a member of the Ramsey Lewis Trio but by the end of the sixties White was in Los Angeles as one of the key players in the group The Salty Peppers who evolved into Earth, Wind and Fire.

Maurice White was the main influence in the band from vocal arrangements, to producing and writing the songs until he was diagnosed with Parkinson. Even though he had to stop touring with the group he still had huge influence in their direction.

Some of their huge hits include "Shining Star," "September," "Boogie Wonderland," and "After the Love has Gone."

In 2000 White and the band was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

The bandleaders condition had deteriorated in the last few months. Maurice's younger brother, Verdine, an original member of Earth, Wind & Fire, still tours with the band

Maurice White, like two other rockers we recently lost, Signe Anderson and Jim Keltner of Jefferson Airplane, was 74. - by John Beaudin

Heading West by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Artist: http://audionautix.com/

Founding Member of Earth, Wind & Fire Maurice White Dead at 74 - Report and History

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