The iconic soul singer and three-time Grammy Award winner Bill Withers passed away in Los Angeles on Monday due to heart complications.
Although Withers hadn’t been active since the 1980s as a musician, people today have still drawn on the strength his song ‘Lean On Me’ provides, have felt the heartache he sung about in ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’, and know just where the beat kicks up in ‘Just The Two Of Us’.
His career spanned for less than 20 years, but in that short amount of time, he was able to make a household name of himself, providing countless feel-good songs that are now known as classics.
Besides winning three outstanding Grammy Awards in his career, he was inducted in 2015 into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame by Stevie Wonder, has had his songs listed in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, and he received an honorary degree from West Virginia University.
From being brought up as the youngest of six children in a small coal-mining town in West Virginia and working his way through a stutter to becoming a musician who nearly everyone can quote word for word, his legacy is something that will continue to live long past his death.
“We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father. A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” as told by the family in a statement.
“As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.”
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Check out ‘Lean On Me’ by Bill Withers:
https://youtu.be/f7P8wusL1Z0
