Bill withers full#

“Instead of singing about romantic love all the time, you make a love song about your grandmother. “If nobody throws all their rules at you, you might make a song with no introduction,” Withers lamented in Still Bill about advice he got from A&R men as his career went on.

Bill withers full#

And while there’s a core of songs that he’ll always be remembered for, his eight studio albums are full of overlooked gems.

But by his own admission, “the fame game was kicking my ass,” and he hadn’t made an album in 35 years when he passed away from heart complications at 81 this week. But the factory was in Los Angeles, where the West Virginia native had moved to start his music career after nine years in the United States Navy.īill Withers was an unpretentious everyman, but an ambitious one who worked harder at his success than he may have liked to admit. “The first live singing I ever did was in front of about five thousand people.” Part of the Bill Withers legend is that he kept his day job at a factory for a while even after “Ain’t No Sunshine” debuted on the charts. “I lived a good portion of my life before I started to play music,” Withers recalled in the 2009 documentary Still Bill, which is available to watch on YouTube. Just about everybody who was born after his ‘70s heyday can probably remember a moment when they asked who Bill Withers was, and then realized he sang a song they’d been hearing their whole lives, and another one, and another, and another. He may not have the catalog of a Stevie Wonder, but his signature songs could go toe-to-toe with anybody else’s five biggest hits. So I proceeded to list off the songs that she could instantly recognize just by their title: “ Lean On Me.” “Ain’t No Sunshine.” “Lovely Day.” “Just The Two Of Us.”īill Withers was only an active recording artist for a little over a decade, but the handful of Top 40 hits he accrued in that time were the durable stuff that standards are made of. “Who’s Bill Withers?” she asked (don’t judge her, she’s a virologist with a PhD, and has things on her mind besides the album liner notes that fill my brain). We thank Taro and Noah for their commitment and dedication.When I saw the news this morning that Bill Withers had passed away, the first thing I did - besides the new perverse ritual of finding out whether a recently deceased person had contracted COVID-19, to make some pointless calculation of exactly how upset I was and why - was tell my wife. It has been a pleasure for Bill and I to be part of the SAY Family for 10 years. What an honor to be recognized by an organization whose mission is to help kids who stutter find their unique voice, build their confidence and see the possibilities for their future. The Withers’ have two adult children, Todd and Kori. She also appears in the documentary Still Bill.

A supporter of several charities, Marcia is currently serving as a Board member of the Stuttering Association for the Young (SAY). She is the co-producer of The Essential Bill Withers and has played a creative role in many of Bill’s compilations on Legacy.Ī graduate of UCLA Graduate School of Management, she previously worked for Management III and Concerts West. Marcia is also the liaison for Bill’s master recording catalog on Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings.

She has been instrumental in the placement of Bill’s songs in countless films, television programs and other media. As head of the Mattie Music Group in Los Angeles, she controls Bill’s publishing companies and its worldwide sub-publisher representatives. Marcia Withers oversees career management for Bill. A recipient of three Honorary Doctorates, Bill received the prestigious UK Ivor Novello Awards’ International Award in 2017. In 2007 “Lean On Me” was enshrined in the Grammy Hall of Fame and in 2015, Bill was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame by Stevie Wonder. Withers has received numerous honors and awards, including induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the 2007 inaugural class of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame. Withers’ songs have been recorded by hundreds of artists.

He resides in Los Angeles, California with his wife of 41 years, Marcia. He recorded nine albums which produced a number of hits and has been the recipient of three Grammy Awards for “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lean on Me,” and “Just the Two of Us.” Other hits included “Use Me,” “Lovely Day,” and “Grandma’s Hands.” He is the subject of the documentary, Still Bill, that debuted at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival. While they are young and developing into what they will ultimately become!īill Withers is an American singer-songwriter, musician and producer who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. I support it because it helps people when they need it most. Growing up with a stutter, I know firsthand the value of an organization like SAY.