Earth, Wind & Fire Founder Maurice White Dead at 74

The band sold 90 million albums worldwide
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Feb 4, 2016 5:40 PM CST
Earth, Wind & Fire Founder Maurice White Dead at 74
FILE - In this July 7, 2003 file photo, Philip Bailey, from left, Maurice White, and Ralph Johnson, of Earth Wind & Fire hold up the plaques from their induction at the Hollywood Rock Walk at a ceremony in Los Angeles. White, the founder and leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, died at home in Los Angeles,...   (Matt Sayles)

Maurice White, the founder and leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, has died. White died at home in Los Angeles on Wednesday, said his brother, Verdine White. He was 74. A former session drummer, White founded Earth, Wind & Fire in the late 1960s. The group sold more than 90 million albums worldwide, displaying a flashy and eclectic musical style that incorporated White's influences from growing up in Memphis, Tennessee, and spending time at the influential Chicago music labels Chess and Okeh. The band's many hits included September, Shining Star, a cover of the Beatles' Got to Get You into My Life, and Boogie Wonderland. Earth, Wind & Fire won six Grammys and was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. (More Earth, Wind & Fire stories.)

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