Earth, Wind & Fireplace drummer Fred White has died, the band introduced on Sunday. He was 67.
The brother of Earth, Wind & Fireplace founders Maurice and Verdine White, the then-teenage Fred joined the band in 1974 after drumming for the likes of Linda Ronstadt and Donny Hathaway. His expertise helped Earth, Wind & Fireplace land their first Billboard No. 1 hit with “Shining Star,” serving to to rework them into the disco powerhouse they’d quickly develop into.
ABC Photograph Archives/Disney Common Leisure Content material by way of Getty Photographs Fred White drumming with Earth, Wind & Fireplace.
Although he left the band within the ’80s, Fred returned for his or her induction ceremony to the Rock and Roll Corridor of Fame in 2000.
“He joins our brothers Maurice, Monte and Ronald in heaven and is now drumming with the angels!” Verdine White, Fred’s brother and founding member of Earth, Wind & Fireplace, wrote on Instagram. “Little one protégé, member of the EWF ORIGINAL 9, with gold data on the younger age of 16 years outdated! He was brother quantity 4 within the household lineup. However greater than that at dwelling and past he was the great bro that was at all times entertaining and delightfully mischievous!”
The official Earth, Wind & Fireplace Instagram account shared a video of Fred performing a drum solo throughout the band’s 1979 world tour in Germany. Watch it under.
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