The Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Fred White has died at the age of 67.
The news was shared by his brother and bandmate Verdine White on Sunday in an Instagram post. He paid tribute to the “amazing and talented” musician, “now drumming with the angels!”
Verdine White wrote: “Dearest family, friends and fans … Our family is saddened today with the loss of an amazing and talented family member, our beloved brother Frederick Eugene ‘Freddie’ White.
“But more than that at home and beyond he was the wonderful bro that was always entertaining and delightfully mischievous! And we could always count on him to make a seemingly bad situation more lighthearted!”
He added: “He will live in our hearts for ever, rest in power beloved Freddie!! We thank you all for your love, blessings and support at this time. Soar high baby bro, we love you to the shining [stars] and back!”
The band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.
Lenny Kravitz was among those who paid tribute. Under Verdine White’s post he wrote: “Sending my love and deepest condolences to you and the family. I was blessed to have been in his presence and blessed to have been influenced by him. A true king. Rest in power.”
Then the note said: ‘And we could always count on him to make a seemingly bad situation more light hearted!’
The musician added: ‘He will live in our hearts forever, rest in power beloved Freddie!! We thank you all for your love, blessings and support at this time. Soar high baby bro, we love you to the shining [stars] and back!’
Fred was born in Chicago and started touring as early as age 15 for a band called The Salty Peppers. The Salty Peppers turned into Earth, Wind & Fire in 1974.
Lenny Kravitz shared a tribute on Instagram: ‘Sending my love and deepest condolences to you and the family. I was blessed to have been in his presence and blessed to have been influenced by him. A true king. Rest in power.’
Earth, Wind & Fire is one of the most dynamic bands to come out of the 1970s as they had several hit songs that included jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco and pop.
The band was founded in Chicago in 1969 by Maurice White and they went by the name the Salty Peppers; their first hit was La La Time but it was not a chart topper.
But when they moved to Los Angeles he had better luck as he added Sherry Scott and Yackov Ben Israel. The self-titled album that came out in 1971 made waves and The Need Of Love came next with a jazzy feel.
In 1972, the founders shook up the band added vocalist Helena Davis, Ronnie Laws on the flute and saxophone, rhythm guitarist Roland Bautista, keyboardist Larry Dunn, vocalist Philip Bailey and percussionist Ralph Johnson to the group. Davis was replaced by Jessica Cleaves.
Then later Andrew stepped in to replace Laws.
The band had a new sound that made it come together.
And it was EW&F’s fourth studio album, Head to the Sky, from 1973 that finally gained some traction. In April, Earth, Wind & Fire saxophonist Andrew Woolfolk passed away at the age of 71.
The artist died after he spent the past six years battling an illness, the band’s lead falsetto singer Philip Bailey shared on Instagram.
The musician was one of the original members of the band and helped them create some of the biggest hit songs of the 1970s.
Bailey shared on Instagram: ‘I met him in High School, and we quickly became friends and band mates. Andrew Paul Woolfolk was his name. We lost him today.’
He then said: ‘Funny. Competitive. Quick witted. And always styling. Booski… I’ll see you on the other side, my friend.’
EW&F Drummer John Paris shared on Instagram: ‘Rest well brother Andrew [prayer and heart emojis].’
Woolfolk also worked on the hit songs Reasons, Let’s Groove, That’s the Way of the World, Sing a Song, Fantasy, and After the Love Has Gone.
During his long career, Andrew also collaborated with artists Deniece Williams, Phil Collins and Stanley Turrentine.
In the late Eighties Woolfolk took a break from Earth, Wind & Fire but then joined up with them again to perform and tour after the millennium.
According to Pitchfork,cFred White toured as a drummer before he graduated high school and he joined Earth, Wind & Fire before he turned 20. His brother, Maurice White, who died in 2016 at 74, was also a founding member of the band and served as bandleader, principal songwriter and producer and was one of the group’s lead singers.
The band also confirmed Fred White’s death on its Instagram page, sharing a video clip of White playing a drum solo while the band was in Essen, Germany, during its 1979 world tour. The video shows White smiling and blowing kisses to the crowd as they cheer. “At home and beyond he was the wonderful bro that was always entertaining and delightfully mischievous,” his brother wrote. “We could always count on him to make a seemingly bad situation more light hearted.”
In 1970, Maurice moved to Los Angeles and founded Earth, Wind & Fire, and Verdine joined a few months later.
A few years later, they coaxed their younger brother to join the group as a primary drummer. Fred White went on to play the drums for the funk-soul-disco-R&B-fusion band in its heyday through the mid-1980s, including on all six albums in Earth, Wind & Fire’s remarkable run of consecutive top 10 records on the Billboard pop chart.
His tight and energetic beats made up the backbone of hits like “Shining Star,” “Let’s Groove” and – of course – the enduring mega-hit “September,” which hit No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100 when it was released and has nearly 1.2 billion streams on Spotify.
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