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Bill Withers\u2019 gritty voice is one of the most recognizable and celebrated in the music industry and his songs are some of the most memorable, thoughtful, and emotional.<\/p>\nBill Withers\u2019 gritty voice is one of the most recognizable and celebrated in the music industry and his songs are some of the most memorable, thoughtful, and emotional.<\/p>\n
\u201cLean On Me,\u201d \u201cAin\u2019t No Sunshine,\u201d \u201cLovely Day,\u201d \u201cJust the Two of Us,\u201d and \u201cUse Me\u201d are proof of his exceptional songwriting, as well as his warranted and rightful place as one of the music industry\u2019s incomparable artists.\u00a0 A critic once said, many of Withers\u2019 tunes \u201csimmer irresistibly, as if cooking over a low flame.\u201d<\/p>\n
Withers, a former Navy aircraft mechanic, released his first album, \u201cJust As I Am,\u201d which contained the hit, \u201cAin\u2019t No Sunshine,\u201d in 1971. It cracked the Billboard Top 10.<\/p>\n
\u201cAin\u2019t No Sunshine,\u201d \u201cLean on Me\u201d and \u201cJust the Two of Us\u201d all won the Grammy Award for best rhythm and blues song.\u00a0 In 1985, after the release of the album, \u201cWatching You Watching Me,\u201d Withers, frustrated with the business, stopped recording and performing.<\/p>\n
Ironically, Withers, who was known for his independent spirit, was born William Harrison Withers Jr. on July 4, in West Virginia. At 17, he joined the Navy and spent nine years in the service before quitting in 1965 and taking a job at an airplane parts factory. A visit to a nightclub to see Lou Rawls perform changed his life.<\/p>\n
After buying a guitar, learning to play it, and writing songs, Withers recorded a demo. Music executive Clarence Avant, set him up with the keyboardist Booker T. Jones, of Booker T. & The MG\u2019s, to produce an album.\u00a0 Withers was laid off from his factory job a few months before the album, \u201cJust as I Am\u201d came out. After the album\u2019s release, he received two letters on the same day. One was from his workplace asking him to return to work. The other was from \u201cThe Tonight Show,\u201d where he appeared in November 1971. Withers would release six other studio albums in the 1970s.<\/p>\n
For his musical efforts, Withers was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.<\/p>\n
Bill Withers died on March 30, 2020, at the age of 81.\u00a0 Legends are defined by their work and how it impacts the culture.\u00a0 We remember\u00a0Bill Withers so others don\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n
#livinglegendsfoundation30 #blackmusicmonth #culturecreator #rootedinblackmusic<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bill Withers\u2019 gritty voice is one of the most recognizable and celebrated in the music industry and his songs are some of the most memorable, thoughtful, and emotional. \u201cLean On […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24933,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment"],"yoast_head":"\n