American drummer Fred White, of the funk group Earth, Wind & Fire, has died at the age of 67, his brother and a former member of the musical formation announced on Monday January 2. “Our family is saddened today by the loss of an incredible and talented family member”wrote one of his brothers, Verdine White, in an Instagram post, recalling that he had “gold records from the age of 16!” On the band’s official Instagram page was posted a video of White performing a drum solo at a concert in Germany in 1979 along with the message “Rest in Love”.
Born in 1955 in Chicago (Illinois, north), Fred White started playing the drums at a very young age. During his career, he won six Grammy Awards with the legendary funk band formed in 1969 by his brother, Maurice White, who died in 2016. Earth, Wind & Fire quickly rose to fame in the 1970s, becoming the one of the first to break racial taboos in pop and was hugely successful in both the white and African-American community. In 1979, the band was the first African-American outfit to perform to sold-out crowds at New York’s prestigious Madison Square Garden.
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White went on to work with other artists, including soul singer Deniece Williams. As a member of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, the American pantheon of rock and popular music. The group distinguished itself through its songs but also through its shows filled with energy, punctuated by a strong presence of brass instruments and a kalimba, an African percussion instrument made of metal slats. Without ever having completely left the stage, the group experienced a resurgence in notoriety after the election of President Barack Obama, who invited them among the first artists to perform after entering the White House in 2009.