Barry White
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Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was a Grammy Award winning American record producer, songwriter and singer responsible for the creation of numerous hit soul and disco songs. During the peak of his career, White earned gold and platinum discs for worldwide sales. He earned his Grammy Awards from the album of The Icon is Love.
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About
Barry White or "Barry Eugene Carter" in real life was born on September 12, 1944 in Galveston, Texas. Barry grew up singing gospel songs with his mother and taught himself to play piano. An eight-year-old Barry made his singing debut in a Galveston church choir. Shortly after moving from Texas to South Central Los Angeles, He made his recording debut at the tender age of 11, playing piano on Jesse Belvin's "Goodnight My Love".
At 16, he joined "The Upfronts", an L.A. R&B band, as a singer/pianist. They released a single entitled, "Little Girl" under Lummtone Records. Later he worked for various independent labels around Los Angeles, landing an A&R position with "Bob Keane", the man responsible for the first pop recordings by Sam Cooke.
One of the first groups he worked with was "The Versatiles" who later changed their name to the "5th Dimension". His first big hit however, came from Viola Wills, whose "Lost Without the Love of My Guy" went to the Top 20 on the R&B charts. His next success was with "Felice Taylor", who had three huge hits in England, "It May Be Winter Outside," "I'm Under the Influence of Love," and "I Feel Love Coming On".
When the Bronco label went out of business, Barry began doing independent production. Veteran arranger Gene Page, who would later arrange or co-arrange White's hits, helped him out, giving him work and non-repayable loans. Then three years later, "Paul Politti", who also worked at Bronco, contacted him to tell him that "Larry Nunes" was interested in teaming up with him. Larry had started cutting tracks for a concept album he was working on.
Meanwhile, Barry had started working with a girl group who hadn't done any singing professionally. The trio consisted of "Diane Taylor", "Glodean James" and her sister "Linda". Barry named the group, Love Unlimited. He produced their gold single, "Walking in the Rain With the One I Love" under Uni Records in 1972 which chartered at #14 on the Pop Singles Chart and #6 on the R&B Singles Chart.
In 1973, Barry signed a recording contract under 20th Century–Fox Records and made his national recording debut single, "I’m Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby" that landed #3 on the Pop Singles Chart and #1 on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart. It's debut album, Rhapsody in White, went gold. The album also features his other solo songs, "Never, Never, Gonna Give Ya Up" that chartered #7 on the U.S. Pop Singles Chart and #2 on the R&B Singles Chart. Also that year he started to write for the Love Unlimited Orchestra, with whom he had a string-laden instrumental disco hit, "Love’s Theme" that reached #1 on the Pop Singles Chart and #10 on the R&B Singles Chart. Love Unlimited’s "Under the Influence" was also a big hit.
In 1973–74 alone, He wrote, produced, or performed on records whose total sales exceeded over $16 million. Among his gold records are "Rhapsody in White" by the Love Unlimited Orchestra which landed #8 on the U.S. pop Singles Chart, "Can’t Get Enough" that chartered #1 on the U.S. Singles Pop Chart), "Can’t Get Enough of Your Love, Baby" reached #1 on the U.S Pop Singles Chart and "You’re the First, the Last, My Everything" which peaked at #2 on the U.S. Pop Singles Chart and #1 on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart.
From 1974 to 1979, he produced more hit singles like, "Barry White Sings Love Songs For The One You Love", "It's Ecstasy When You Lay Down Next to Me," "Playing Your Game Baby", "Let the Music Play", "You See The Trouble With Me", "Just Another Way to Say I Love You", "I'll Do for You, Anything You Want Me To," "Love Serenade", "The Man", "Your Sweetness Is My Weakness," "Shad La Means I Love You," "September When We Met", "Just the Way You Are". He also wrote a songs for Love Unlimited like "In Heat", "I Belong to You," "Move Me No Mountain," "Share a Little Love in Your Heart," and "Love's Theme," with lyrics. He also produced a movie soundtrack for 20th Century Fox Films, "The Together Brothers".
In the late 80's, he released more singles, "Didn’t We Make It Happen, Baby" in 1981 and "I Want You". Other singles released are, "Sho’ You Right" in 1987 and "For Your Love (I’ll Do Most Anything)" in 1987, followed by "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" in 1990 that chartered #1 on the U.S R&B Singles Chart, "Put Me in Your Mix" in 1991 which peaked at #2 on the U.S. R&B Singles Chart.
In 1994, he released the album, The Icon is Love which spawned hit single, "Come On". The album earned White two Grammys. His career took him from the ghetto to international success with 106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold and ten platinum singles, with worldwide sales in excess of 100 million. In 1999, he published an autobiography, "Love Unlimited". By mid-2000 he was appearing regularly on the hit television show Ally McBeal.
Barry's health began to fail in September, 2002 and he entered Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to be treated for kidney failure brought on by high blood pressure. After years of battling high blood pressure that eventually resulted in renal failure, Barry suffered a stroke in May of 2003. He finally passed away two months later on July 4th at the age of 58. He was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in September, 2004
Awards & Certifications
| Year | Award | Category |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Grammy Awards | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "Staying Power" |
| 1999 | Grammy Awards | Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for "Staying Power" |
Chart Toppers
| Year | Title | US Singles Chart | UK Singles Chart | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Walkin' In the Rain With the One I Love | 14 | 14 | Love Unlimited |
| 1973 | It May Be Winter Outside (But In My Heart It's Spring) | 83 | 11 | Love Unlimited |
| 1973 | I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby | 3 | 23 | Barry White |
News
Tours & Concerts
There are no current tour and concert schedules for Barry White.
Announcements
There are no announcements as of this time
Discography
Albums
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Singles
| Date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | It's Ecstasy | Polygram |
| 1990 | I Wanna Do It Good to You | A&M |
| 1992 | Dark & Lovely | A&M |
| 1999 | Longer We Make Love | Priv |
| 2004 | Can't Get Enough of Your Love | Divine Recordings |
Compilations & Live Releases
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Other artists
Similar artists
Contemporaries
Influences
Trivia
Reviews
External Links
Categories: Artist | Soul | Disco
