Earth, Wind & Fire’s music transcends generations, races and genres. Maurice White formed the band in 1969, when it was originally named the “Salty Peppers.”
In 1972, he restructured the band and the name to be after the three elements in his astrological chart. The band consisted of his brother Verdine White (on bass), Jessica Cleaves (vocals), Ronnie Laws (flute, saxophone), Roland Bautista (guitar), Larry Dunn (keyboard), Ralph Johnson (percussion), and Philip Bailey (vocals- falsetto).
Earth, Wind & Fire had an all-encompassing vision of jazz, soul, pop, rock, blues, folk, African music, and, later on, disco. Their foundation of funky up-beat music bridged the gap between white and black audiences.
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