Barry Eugene White (né Carter; September 12, 1944 – July 4, 2003) was an American R&B, soul and disco singer, songwriter, actor, and record producer. A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, who made the #1 hit "Love's Theme" written by White. White's music contains elements of multiple different genres such as R&B, soul, and disco, this is shown as such on his two biggest hits: "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything".
White recorded 20 studio albums during the course of his career, while multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status. White had 20 gold and 10 platinum singles, with worldwide record sales in excess of 100 million records, and is one of the best-selling music artists of all time. His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Supremes, the Four Tops, and Marvin Gaye.
Early life
White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944, in Galveston, Texas. His mother was Sadie Marie Carter, and his father was Melvin A. White, who, unbeknownst to his mother, was married. Upon seeing her last name on his son's birth certificate, Melvin scratched that out and wrote White. Although his parents never married, they had a second child, Darryl, who was 13 months younger.
White grew up in the Watts neighborhood of South Central Los Angeles, California, listening to his mother's classical music collection. He took to the piano to emulate what he heard on the records. White has often been credited with playing piano on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love" at age 11, but White denied that and said it was an exaggeration because Belvin, who was 12 years older, lived in the same neighborhood.
White attended Jacob A. Riis High School, an all-boys academy in southeast Los Angeles. White's voice deepened suddenly when he was 13 or 14. He recalled: "[As a child], I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man." He further recalled: "I woke up one morning ... I spoke to my mother, and I scared both of us."
White was jailed for four months at the age of 16 for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires (). While in jail, he listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life. White had another moment of inspiration on his 18th birthday, which also was the first day of his senior year of high school. He skipped class to walk to Capitol Records headquarters in Hollywood and stood across the street from the office staring for hours. Seeing the liveliness of the area it inspired him to work in Hollywood in the entertainment industry, despite not knowing how to read or write music. before working for various small independent labels in Los Angeles. He also recorded several singles under his own name in the early 1960s, backed by vocal groups the Atlantics (for the Rampart and Faro labels) and the Majestics (for the Linda and Jordan labels). in his 1999 autobiography, White confirmed the song had been produced by Gene Page, who had worked with him on many of his 1970s successes.
In 1965, White produced "Feel Aw Right" by the Bel Cantos, released on the Downey label. He recorded his debut single, "Man Ain't Nothin'"/"I Don't Need It", released under the name "Lee Barry" on Downey in 1966. He also co-wrote "Together Forever", released by Pat Powdrill & the Powerdrills in 1967.
In the mid-'60s, Bob Keane of Del-Fi Records hired him as an A&R man for his new Bronco Records imprint, and White started working with the label's artists, including Viola Wills and the Bobby Fuller Four, as a songwriter, session musician, and arranger. White also wrote "Doin' the Banana Split" for TV bubblegum pop act the Banana Splits in 1968.
In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.
1970s as producer
thumb|right|White (left) with Vittorio Salvetti in Italy, 1976
In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited. However, White had other plans, and in 1973, he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the orchestra), which reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. Later, in 1974, he made the first album of the Love Unlimited Orchestra, Rhapsody in White, containing "Love's Theme". White would continue to make albums with the orchestra, achieving some successes such as: "Rhapsody in White", "Satin Soul", "Forever in Love", "Midnight Groove", "My Sweet Summer Suite", Remake of "Theme From King Kong". The orchestra ceased to make albums in 1983 but continued to support White as a backing band.
1970s solo career
thumb|right|White performing on piano in 1974
White wanted to work with another act, but decided to work with a solo male artist. While working on a few demos for a male singer, he made three song demos of himself singing and playing, but Nunes heard them and insisted that he re-record and release them himself as a solo recording artist.
He then wrote several other songs and recorded them for what eventually became an entire album of music. He was going to use the name "White Heat", but decided on using his given name instead. White was still hesitating up to the time the label copy was made. It eventually became White's first solo album, I've Got So Much to Give (1973). The album spawned the singles the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby", and scored five Top 10 hits and a No. 1 for "You're the First, the Last, My Everything". and in the US, "Dr. Love", "Mr. Love", "Prince of Pillow Talk", "Ambassador of Romance", "King of Disco" "The Maestro" or "Guru of Love".
After six years, White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.
1980s
Although his prominence in commercial charts declined as the disco era came to an end, he maintained a loyal following throughout his career. Despite several albums over the next three years, he failed to repeat his earlier successes, with no singles managing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, except for 1982's "Change", climbing into the Billboard R&B Top 20 where it reached a peak of No. 12.
After four years, he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No. 17. In 1989, he released The Man Is Back! and with it had three top 40 singles on the Billboard R&B charts: "Super Lover", which made it to No. 34, "I Wanna Do It Good to Ya", which made it to No. 26, and "When Will I See You Again", which made it to No. 32.
1990s
A 1970s nostalgia fad allowed White to enjoy a renewed wave of popularity in the 1990s. After participating in the song "The Secret Garden (Sweet Seduction Suite)" from Quincy Jones's 1989 album Back on the Block, White mounted an effective comeback with several albums, each more successful than the one before. He returned to chart prominence in 1991 with the album Put Me in Your Mix, which reached No. 8 on the Billboard R&B Albums chart and the song by the same name reached No. 2 on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
In 1994, White released The Icon Is Love, which went to No. 1 on the Billboard R&B album charts, and the single "Practice What You Preach" gave him his first No. 1 on the Billboard R&B singles chart in almost 20 years. In 1996, White recorded the duet "In Your Wildest Dreams" with Tina Turner. 1996 also saw the release of Space Jam and its soundtrack, on which White had a duet with Chris Rock, called "Basketball Jones", a remake of Cheech & Chong's "Basketball Jones" from 1973.
White's final album, 1999's Staying Power, resulted in his last hit song "Staying Power", which placed No. 45 on the Billboard R&B charts. The single won him two Grammy Awards in the categories Best Male R&B Vocal Performance and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
His autobiography, Love Unlimited, written with Marc Eliot, was published in 1999 by Broadway Books.
Acting career
Over the course of his career, White occasionally did voice-over work for television and movies. He voiced the character Brother Bear in the film Coonskin (1975). White voiced himself twice in the fourth season of The Simpsons, in the episodes "Whacking Day" and "Krusty Gets Kancelled".
White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love". In addition, he narrated car commercials, including for Oldsmobile, and later on, Jeep. White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu. White narrated Apple's first iBook commercial. White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.
Personal life
Marriages
White was first married to his childhood sweetheart, identified only as "Mary" in his autobiography, by the time he was 19. They separated in 1969 and later divorced.
In 1974, White married singer Glodean James. The couple collaborated on the 1981 album Barry & Glodean. Although estranged from White for over a decade, as his widow she was made sole executor of his estate.
Children
White had nine children. They had four children together. Denton also claimed that she was owed money and personal items that White had promised to give her. Paternity tests revealed that he was not the father of her child and Denton subsequently lost her court case.
While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life. He also suffered multiple seizures in his last few weeks.
White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney, and he died of kidney failure at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on July 4, 2003, at the age of 58. His remains were cremated and the ashes were scattered in the ocean off the California coast.
Legacy
On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York. On September 12, 2013, which would have been White's 69th birthday, he was posthumously awarded the 2,506th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in the category of recording. The show Counting Cars paid tribute to White by restoring the last car he owned for his widow, Glodean.
In an obituary referring to White by his nickname, "The Walrus of Love", the BBC recalled "the rich timbres of one of the most distinctive soul voices of his generation, about which it was once said: 'If chocolate fudge cake could sing, it would sound like Barry White.'"
In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked White at number 56 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
Awards and nominations
White was nominated for 11 Grammy Awards, winning two for Staying Power at the 42nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2000.