Drummer Fred White performing on stage.
Photo: Rob Verhorst/Redferns via Getty Images
- Drummer Fred White, one of the early members of the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at the age of 67.
- “Our family is saddened today by the loss of an amazing and talented family member,” one of White’s siblings, Verdine, wrote in an Instagram post.
- The band’s official Instagram page posted a video of White performing a drum solo at a 1979 concert in Germany. “Rest in love,” the group wrote.
Drummer Fred White, an early member of the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at the age of 67, his brother and former group announced Monday.
Born in 1955 in Chicago, White began playing drums at an early age and won six Grammy Awards with the funk band, founded in 1969 by his brother, the late Maurice White.
“Our family is saddened today by the loss of an amazing and talented family member,” another of White’s siblings, Verdine, wrote in an Instagram post.
“Sheltered child, member of EWF ORIGINAL 9, with gold records at the young age of 16!” wrote White’s older brother, also a former member of the group.
Earth, Wind & Fire quickly rose to fame in the 1970s, becoming one of the first acts to break the color barrier in pop music, gaining a white fan base, and favorites within the African-American community.
In 1979, the band became the first black act to fill New York’s Madison Square Garden, then, as now, one of New York’s most prestigious concert venues.
The band’s official Instagram page posted a video of White performing a drum solo at a 1979 concert in Germany.
“Rest in love,” the group wrote.
He went on to work with other artists, including soul singer Deniece Williams.
White, as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire, was inducted in 2000 into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.
The group won acclaim not only for their songwriting, but also for their energetic live shows, headlined by a hard-hitting horn section and a kalimba, an African percussion instrument played with metal spikes.
While they never completely disappeared, Earth, Wind & Fire enjoyed a professional resurgence after the election of former President Barack Obama, who invited the band as one of the first acts when he entered the White House in 2009.
