Maurice White (Memphis, 1941 - LA, 2016), best known as leader and co-founder of Earth, Wind & Fire, started singing in his church choir at a young age.



Maurice White later took up drumming, and after studying composition at the Chicago Conservatory of Music he started working as a session drummer.



Maurice White played on the records of artists such as Etta James, Ramsey Lewis, Sonny Stitt, Muddy Waters, the Impressions, the Dells, Betty Everett, Sugar Pie DeSanto and Buddy Guy. Maurice White also played the drums on Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me" and Billy Stewart's "Summertime".



In 1962, along with other studio musicians at Chess Records, Maurice White was a member of the Jazzmen, who later became the Pharaohs.



By 1966, Maurice White joined the Ramsey Lewis Trio, replacing Isaac "Red" Holt as the drummer.



Around that time Maurice was introduced in a Chicago drum store to the African thumb piano or kalimba and on Ramsey Lewis Trio's 1969 album Another Voyage's track "Uhuru" was featured the first recording of Maurice White playing the kalimba.



In 1969 Maurice White moved to Los Angeles with a band called the Salty Peppers, which went on to become the soul group Earth, Wind & Fire.



Also known by his nickname "Reese", Maurice White worked with several famous recording artists including; Deniece Williams, the Emotions, Barbra Streisand, and Neil Diamond.



Earth, Wind & Fire won seven Grammy Awards, nominated for a total of twenty-one Grammys, had six double-platinum albums, and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2000.



Maurice White stopped touring with the group in 1994, after he was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the late 1980s.



Maurice White died in his sleep at his home in Los Angeles, California on the morning of February 4, 2016 at the age of 74.