Barry White
(Singer-songwriter)
Barry White was an American singer, songwriter and composer. A three-time Grammy Award–winner known for his distinctive bass-baritone voice and romantic image, White's greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with The Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits, "You're the First, the Last, My Everything" and "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe".
During the course of his career in the music business, White achieved 106 gold albums worldwide, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million, White is one of the world's best-selling artists of all time. His influences included the Rev. James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, and Elvis Presley plus Motown artists The Supremes, the Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Top 10 Barry White Quotes
There's people making babies to my music. That's nice.
One preacher turned me on, another turned me off.
I quit high school on my birthday. It was my senior year and I didn't see the point. This was 1962, and I was ready to make music.
The cops picked me up for attempted murder. I can still see the detectives, licking their chops. Thought they had me. Two weeks later, the cat came out of a coma and told the truth. I was innocent.
Take it off, baby, take it all off. I want you the way you came into the world.
The biggest problem I had was remembering accurately. The book is about the lessons I've learned, things I went through and endured.
I'm never gonna quit, cause quitting' just ain't my schtick.
When I saw corruption, I was forced to find truth on my own. I couldn't swallow the hypocrisy.
I'll come to you with gifts of knowledge, wisdom and truth.
We forget that this music, music made by my brothers and sisters, is still a baby. It's just beginning. When I think of the possibilities, it makes me smile.
White was born Barry Eugene Carter in Galveston, Texas on September 12, 1944, and grew up in South Central Los Angeles. White was the older of two children. His brother Darryl was 13 months younger than Barry. He grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.
White has often been credited with playing piano, at age eleven, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love." However, in a 1995 interview with Larry Katz of the Boston Herald, White denied writing or arranging the song. He believed the story was an exaggeration by journalists. While White and Belvin lived in the same neighborhood, Belvin was twelve years older than White. White also stated that he had no involvement with Bob & Earl's 1963 hit single "Harlem Shuffle", a song he is credited with producing and in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of White's 1970s successes.
White was overweight for most of his adult life—weighing 375 pounds (170 kg) according to Casey Kasem—and suffered from related health problems. In October 1995, White was admitted to a hospital as a result of high blood pressure. In August 1999, White was forced to cancel approximately a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure, and a hectic schedule. In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure.
While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. At around 9:30 a.m. (PDT) on July 4, 2003, 29 years to the day that he married Glodean, White died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles at the age of 58. His remains were cremated, and the ashes were scattered by his family off the California coast.
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