Although the upcoming EW&F tour will highlight the euphoric days of the 70’s/80’s soul R&B era, they’ll also incorporate a special tribute to their leader, Maurice White, who passed away last year (2016) at 74 after suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Prior to his passing, the three other original members- Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, and Maurice’s brother, Verdine White- had always paid tribute to Maurice ever since he stopped performing with the group in 1995 (for health reasons). However, they admitted that this upcoming tribute will be extremely sad for them, because now Maurice is no longer here.

See what EW&F revealed to ABC News about how they’ve been having to pretty much conceal their pain publicly, while trying to cope with it at the same time:

Via ABC News: “We’re still healing,” said drummer Ralph Johnson, one of three original members still playing the band’s infectious hooks. “I think the way we’ve dealt with it has been to do the music.”

“It’s not something you get over. Maurice will always be part of us. We cut our teeth on Earth, Wind and Fire. He was our mentor, our leader, our Elvis, our John Lennon, all in one guy,” said White’s brother, Verdine.

Each night, after unleashing a top-heavy string of hits, Earth, Wind & Fire get serious during the White tribute. It comes during the song “That’s the Way of the World,” when a video memorial of Maurice White plays.

Johnson and Verdine White — joined by fellow original member, singer Philip Bailey — said they try to avoid looking at each other during the show’s memorial part for fear that tears will fall. Many fans stop to pull out cellphones and capture the moment. “Everything is fun, fun, fun, fun. Then we get to that section and that’s when the show gets heart. All we see is just phones,” said White. “It’s heavy. It’s deep. It’s beautiful, though.”

If you’re in the area between July 12th and Aug. 22nd, when their The Tour hits these cities, be sure to check them out: EW&F will make their way through Oakland, New York City, Chicago, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, D.C and their last stop will be in Detroit (in that order). Rest well Maurice White after a phenomenal job well done.

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At first there was not even going to be a Maurice White tribute, the Grammys had only prepared a tribute to only the White entertainers who had passed away recently, but after receiving public backlash on social media, they quickly added the tribute for Maurice, but still ignored the public outcry to also include Natalie in the live tribute.

Here is what Natalie’s sisters had to say about this via Page Six and MailOnline:

‘Where is the tribute to our sister? It’s very bittersweet.

‘We were hoping that there will be some sort of actual tribute to her fitting of her artistry and stature. She had 21 Grammy nominations and nine wins.

‘She was such a force in the music industry and she transcended genres…I think she should be recognized for the impact she has had.’

Cole said that she was told the ‘In Memoriam’ segment would end with a clip of Natalie and her father Nat King Cole, who died 51 years ago on Monday, singing ‘Unforgettable,’ but said at the time that this wasn’t enough.

She added: ‘Why wouldn’t you have a medley of two or three songs? There are many hits that could be sung and great artists who could perform them.’

And it wasn’t just her family that were upset, musician Eric Benet commented: ‘I think David Bowie is in his grave right now disgusted.

‘So Grammys: Shame on you. Shame on you, shame on you. There would be no rock-and-roll if there was no R&B, and I feel like Black music…continues to be lessened in a number of different ways. But that’s another video.’ 

After the R.I.P. tribute segment of the Grammy Awards aired, social media didn’t take too kindly to the lack of Natalie Cole respect dished out by the organization and once again the #GrammysSoWhite hashtag quickly begin surfacing again. Here are some examples of what folks were saying about this on social media:

With the ever-growing popularity of social media, it is a new day and age of accountability. Organizations and corporations are now being forced to answer for their actions, and their reputations are now starting to be affected as a result of the wealth of information that people can now share with each other through social media. This is a wonderful new day we live in…the days of corporations and mainstream media machines not being held responsible for their actions, reactions, or biases are coming to an end because the people now have a collective voice and multiple platforms on which to make their voices heard. Natalie Cole wasn’t given her just due at the Grammys this year, but maybe next year, they’ll think twice about doing that to someone else, just like they were forced to think twice about failing to recognize Maurice White’s legacy this year.

The post Natalie Cole’s Family Outraged Grammys Didn’t Properly Honor Her, Details appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

Could the Grammy Awards have their own race problem? The show is coming under huge pressure to diversify its all-white tribute lineup and honor the late Maurice White.

During Monday’s telecast, Lady Gaga will perform an eight-minute David Bowie tribute, Jackson Browne will honor Glenn Frey and Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp are expected to perform a tribute for Lemmy from Motörhead.

But industry insiders are griping that White, of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and Natalie Cole have been banished to a video tribute package with others who died in the past year.

“Over the last week or so, since Maurice White passed away, there has been back and forth with the producers and the academy about some kind of representation of him during the show. The tributes they’ve confirmed are all white. As of yesterday, there was no tribute at all for Maurice because Grammy producers said they didn’t have time,” one insider told us.

To make matters worse, Run-DMC will receive a lifetime achievement award — but it won’t be televised. “People are afraid to speak on it because it’s the Grammys. But there’s a history of them not acknowledging black artists,” the first source added.

We all know that this type of thing has been going on for years and it’s very unfortunate. While it’s always great for entertainers to be recognized for their hard work, it is even more rewarding to stand up against oppression and not constantly stand on the outside of the window waiting for crumbs to be discarded out of it. Or as Taraji so eloquently put it at this year’s NAACP Awards: “We don’t need to ask for ask for acceptance from ANYONE. WE are enough.”

The post Really? Maurice White & Natalie Cole Getting Duped At Grammys, Details appeared first on I Love Old School Music.

White, who was 74, suffered from Parkinson’s Disease and had retreated from the public even as the band he founded kept performing.

“My brother, hero and best friend Maurice White passed away peacefully last night in his sleep,” Verdine White, also a member of the band, told The Associated Press on Thursday. “While the world has lost another great musician and legend, our family asks that our privacy is respected as we start what will be a very difficult and life changing transition in our lives. Thank you for your prayers and well wishes.”

Earth, Wind & Fire, a nine-piece band centered featuring the two White brothers, singer Philip Bailey and the distinctive horn section, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000. The band’s most successful period started with the 1975 album “That’s The Way of The World” and continued through the rest of the decade. Other hits included “Serpentine Fire,” ”That’s the Way of the World” and a cover of the Beatles’ “Got to Get You Into My Life.”

“White publicly revealed he had Parkinson’s at the time of the band’s Hall of Fame induction, but he had shown symptoms of the neurological disease back in the 1980s. He stopped touring with the band in 1995 because of weariness from the road combined with his health problems.

White said in an interview with The Associated Press in 2000 that he wanted the band’s music to inspire instead of just entertain.

“That was the whole objective, to try to inspire young people to believe in themselves and to follow through on their ideas,” he said. “We’ve touched so many people with these songs.”

A former session drummer, White founded the band Salty Peppers in the Chicago area in the late 1960s and had some modest success in the Midwest. After relocating to Los Angeles and ditching all of the band members except Verdine, he renamed the outfit Earth, Wind & Fire after the three elements in his astrological chart.

Bailey’s bright falsetto defined many of Earth, Wind & Fire’s hits. “We experienced pure magic together,” Bailey said during the band’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, standing next to White.

The band’s early sound was jazzy, but evolved into an exuberant, horn-driven mix of jazz, funk, gospel and Big Band music. Their appeal wasn’t just on records but on stage, their concerts a whirl of dancing, fog machines, multi-colored lights and glittery costumes. Earth, Wind & Fire performed everywhere from the Super Bowl to the White House.

Maurice White also had a substantial side career producing other artists, including Barbra Streisand and Cher. In the 1970s, he co-wrote and co-produced the Emotions’ No. 1 hit “Best of My Love.”

White was born in Memphis in 1941, the son of a doctor and grandson of a New Orleans piano player. He showed musical gifts at an early age, studying at the Chicago Conservancy. During the 1960s, he backed Muddy Waters, the Impressions and others and worked as a session drummer in Chicago.
Source

It’s sadly ironic that we’ve just recently covered the serenade that EW&F did for the late Natalie Cole, whom we lost on December 31, 2015, and now we’re paying homage to the beloved Maurice White. Turn the page to reminisce with us…

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