Bill Withers

Bill Withers was a singer, songwriter, and guitarist born on July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a small coal-mining town. He was raised in the nearby town of Beckley as the youngest of six children of Mattie (Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. His father died when Withers was thirteen. To support his mother, Bill worked various odd jobs. At seventeen, he joined the U.S. Navy, where he developed an interest in singing and songwriting. After being discharged in 1965, he moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue a music career. While working full time making toilet seats at Boeing, Withers recorded demos in his spare time. In 1970, he was signed to Sussex Records. His debut album, *Just As I Am*, was released in 1971. The song "Ain't No Sunshine" became a #3 R&B hit and won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. In 1972, "Lean on Me" became a major success, reaching #1 on the Billboard pop charts on July 8. "Use Me" also performed well, peaking at #2 on the Billboard pop charts. In 1974, Withers performed at the historic Ali/Frasier fight in Zaire alongside James Brown, Etta James, and B.B. King; footage of his performance appears in the documentary *When We Were Kings*. After leaving Sussex Records, Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975. "Lovely Day" became a Top 30 pop hit in 1978, and in 1981, his duet with Grover Washington, Jr., "Just the Two of Us," reached #2 on the Billboard pop charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. His songs have been covered by artists including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Club Nouveau (whose 1987 cover of "Lean on Me" won the 1988 Grammy for Best Rhythm & Blues Song), Morrissey, Paul McCartney, Michael Bolton, Fiona Apple, Sting, Kenny Rogers, and Johnny Mathis. Withers received the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award in 2006. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. His songs have appeared in the soundtracks of films such as *Hoot*, *Roll Bounce*, *Starsky & Hutch*, *Bandits*, *Exit Wounds*, *Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me*, *American Beauty*, *Notting Hill*, *The Bodyguard*, *American Me*, *Lean on Me*, and *Looking for Mr. Goodbar*, as well as episodes of TV shows including *Entourage*, *LAX*, *Cold Case*, *Keen Eddie*, *Six Feet Under*, *The Wire*, *CSI: Crime Scene Investigations*, and *The Simpsons*.