Maurice White, founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, dies

LOS ANGELES - Maurice White, co-founder and leader of the groundbreaking ensemble Earth, Wind & Fire, died at his Los Angeles home Thursday. He was 74. His brother and bandmate, Verdine White, confirmed the news with the Associated Press.

The source for a wealth of euphoric hits in the 1970s and early ‘80s, including 'Shining Star,” 'September” and 'Boogie Wonderland,” Earth, Wind & Fire borrowed elements from funk, soul, gospel and pop for a distinctive sound that yielded six double-platinum albums and six Grammy Awards.

The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000, and although White had ceased touring with the group since a diagnosis of Parkinson's disease in the ‘90s, the group had continued to tour.

Born in Memphis, Tenn. on Dec. 19, 1941, Maurice White sang in his church's gospel choir at an early age, but his interest quickly gravitated to the drums. He earned his first gig backing Booker T. Jones before the organist founded the MGs. He moved to Chicago in the early ‘60s and studied composition at the Chicago Conservatory of Music and eventually found work as a session drummer for the Chess and OKeh labels.

'That's where I learned about the roots of music,” White told the Chicago Tribune in 1990. 'I learned about playing with feeling.”

White moved to Los Angeles in 1969 with a band called the Salty Peppers. The group failed to gain much traction, and he changed the group's name in 1971 to Earth, Wind and Fire, a name that reflected White's spiritual approach to music.

White's hits spanned a particularly influential space between soul, R&B, funk and disco. His music with Earth, Wind & Fire was sampled by scores of hip-hop and pop acts, including Jay-Z and 2Pac. His mix of incandescent soulfulness and suave, funky arrangements informed recent best-selling albums by Daft Punk and Kendrick Lamar.

Remembrances of White came from all corners of the music world. Even U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch wrote that she was 'Mourning the loss” of 'the voice of my generation.”