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Barry White

Known for his distinctive baritone and classic love songs.

Founded

September 12, 1944 in Galveston, Texas

Full Name

Barry Eugene Carter

Date of Birth

September 12, 1944 in Galveston, Texas

Still Alive

Date of Death

July 4, 2003 in Los Angeles, California

Influenced By

James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, The Supremes, The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Classical music

Later Influenced

Teddy Pendergrass, Luther Vandross, ABC, Simply Red, Lisa Stansfield, Soul II Soul, Lord Finesse

Barry White performing in The Netherlands, February 7, 1974

About The artist

Say the name Barry White and you'd be hard pressed to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following. He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of The Simpsons. During the '70s, Dinah Shore devoted a full hour of her daily syndicated Dinah! show to White. While there was a period where Barry White wasn't releasing records or making the pop charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on other artists' records including Quincy Jones' "The Secret Garden (The Seduction Suite)," Regina Belle, and rap star Big Daddy Kane's "All of Me." It's surprising to find out that such an illustrious career almost didn't happen because White wasn't interested in being a recording artist.

By Ed Hogan for Allmusic.com