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Electronic Period (1981?1987)
The platinum Raise!, EWF's eleventh album was released in the fall of 1981 and it featured their million selling hit single "Let's Groove", and the Grammy Award winning "Wanna Be With You". October 30, 1981, Earth, Wind & Fire appeared at American Bandstand's 30th Anniversary Special where they performed Let's Groove.[28]
Earth, Wind & Fire performing at the Oakland Coliseum in 1981
Powerlight was released in early 1983 and included the hit singles "Fall In Love With Me" a number 17 pop hit, and "Side By Side." "Powerlight" went gold. Also in 1983, Earth, Wind & Fire contributed the song "Dance, Dance, Dance" to the soundtrack of the animated film Rock & Rule. Maurice put the band on hiatus in 1983 after the synthesized Electric Universe was released in late 1983 to a poor critical and commercial reception. Maurice White attributes the album's lack of success to its release so quickly after Powerlight.
During their hiatus, Philip Bailey released his second and most successful solo project, the gold album Chinese Wall, which also featured the Phenix Horns. The first single from that Phil Collins produced album, a duet with Collins called "Easy Lover", sold over a million copies and also reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The music video of Bailey and Collins rehearsing their collaboration hit #1 on MTV's video playlist, and won an MTV video music award. During this period, Bailey also released a number of gospel albums, and one of them, Triumph, won him a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male. Also, during the hiatus, Verdine White worked behind the scenes, writing and directing videos. He produced the Level 42 album Standing in the Light, with Larry Dunn, and promoted go-go bands like Trouble Funk and E.U.[7]
Maurice White during this time produced for Barbra Streisand on her platinum album Emotion and worked with Neil Diamond on his gold album Headed for the Future and Cher on her 1987 platinum album Cher. He also released the solo album Maurice White in 1985, which included a cover of "Stand by Me", which went to number 6 on the R&B charts and number 11 on the Adult Contemporary charts. The album also featured an appearance by saxophonist Gerald Albright. The compilation album The Collection was released May 1986 and this album went to number 5 on the UK singles charts for two weeks and was certified gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.
In 1987, CBS Records convinced Philip Bailey and Maurice White that a reunion of Earth, Wind & Fire would be beneficial for all parties. Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Andrew Woofolk would also return and new to the group were guitarist/vocalist Sheldon Reynolds, lead guitarist Dick Smith, drummer Sonny Emory,and a new horn section dubbed the Earth, Wind and Fire Horns made up of Gary Bias on the saxophone, Raymond Lee Brown on the trumpet and flugelhorn and trombonist Reggie Young. The band's reunion fostered the 1987 Gold album Touch the World, which went onto number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 33 on The Billboard 200. Featured on the album was a song penned by an unknown songwriter by the name of Skylark called "System of Survival". Released as a single the song became a hit reaching number one on the Billboard R&B charts and Dance charts, and another single called "Thinking Of You" peaked at number one and number 3 on the R&B and Dance charts.
[edit] Later Career (1988?2003)
The band continued to release new albums, including the compilation album The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2 released in 1988. Their final Columbia album was 1990's Heritage, which featured a collaboration with Sly Stone of Sly & the Family Stone. 1993 saw the Warner Bros. release Millennium. The single "Sunday Morning" from Millennium gained a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The album also featured the Prince written track Super Hero. July 30, 1993, Phenix Horns saxophonist Don Myrick was fatally shot by the Los Angeles Police Department in a case of mistaken identity and October 13, 1993, former Earth, Wind & Fire member Wade Flemons died from cancer in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Earth, Wind & Fire star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1994, Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the NAACP Hall Of Fame. September 15, 1995, Earth, Wind & Fire was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[29] All the original members of the group showed up. Maurice White attributed EWF's success to the support of their fans. During this time, Maurice White retired from touring with the band for health reasons, concentrating more on producing and developing new Earth, Wind & Fire recordings and working with other artists. Philip Bailey was then given the role of onstage leader of the band. The studio album In the Name of Love was released in 1997 on Pyramid Records. EWF performed at the 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival and gave an encore performance the following year. Their performance was released on the DVD Earth, Wind & Fire: Live At Montreux 1997. In 1999 Earth, Wind & Fire performed on the A&E Network show Live by Request.[30]
Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 6, 2000, by rapper Lil' Kim to a standing ovation. The band's original members Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Larry Dunn, Andrew Woofolk, Fred White and Johnny Graham played together for the first time in 20 years at the ceremony performing Shining Star and That's The Way Of The World.[2] After their induction into the Hall of Fame an effort was made by the original band members to have a full reunion but it didn't work out.[31] June 20, 2000, Earth, Wind & Fire were the special musical guests at a White House state dinner hosted by President Bill Clinton held in a tent on the South Lawn of the White House, held in honor of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco and Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem.[29][32] So impressed was he by the band's performance that the king personally requested that Earth, Wind & Fire perform in Morocco for his 37th birthday celebration, which took place August 21, 2000.[33]
In 2001, EWF released a biography of the band, Shining Stars: The Official Story Of Earth, Wind & Fire, directed by Kathryn Arnold. Following the September 11 attacks, the band members donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross at a September 13 show at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater in Virginia, which was the band's first concert since the events took place.[34]
February 24, 2002, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.[35] Maurice White released on his own label Kalimba Records the album Live In Rio in 2002, a live album from the band's 1980 performance in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
June 17, 2002, EWF accepted the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The award was presented by Jimmy Jam, ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman and Stevie Wonder.[36] In 2003 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Earth, Wind & Fire were also inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk July 7, 2003.[37]
The Promise, the band's first studio album in six years was released in 2003. The Promise received critical acclaim upon its release with Blender Magazine calling the album "a classy collection" and People Magazine describing The Promise as "musically rich".[38][39] The Promise included songs reminiscent of classic EW&F such as the kalimba laden track "All in the Way", which reunited EWF with The Emotions, and Betcha' and also on it were two previously unreleased songs from the "I Am" sessions titled "Where Do We Go From Here" and "Dirty". The Promise went to number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and the song Hold Me from The Promise was Grammy nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
[edit] Current Career (2004?present)
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2010)
February 8, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire with Maurice White showing up performed alongside OutKast, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Parliament Funkadelic in a Tribute to Funk at the 46th annual Grammy Awards. They sang Shining Star solo, and then at the request of Outkast teamed up with them to croon The Way You Move.[21][40]
Mid 2004, Earth, Wind & Fire signed an exclusive record deal with Sanctuary Urban Records Group, owned by Mathew Knowles, father and manager of rhythm and blues musician Beyonc?. May 4, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire contributed to the Jimi Hendrix Tribute Album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix with a cover of Voodoo Child (Slight Return). September 28, 2004, Queen Latifah released her album The Dana Owens Album, which featured Gary Bias and Bob Burns Jr. of the Earth, Wind and Fire Horns. The album reached number 16 and 11 on The Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts and went gold. November 23, 2004, Kenny G released the album At Last...The Duets Album featuring Earth, Wind & Fire on the track The Way You Move, which was released as a single and went to number 12 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.
December 11, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire were honored at the first annual Grammy Jam held at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles where several artists of which included Stevie Wonder, Yolanda Adams, Sheila E., Miri Ben-Ari, George Duke, Kanye West and Randy Jackson performed EWF songs. The event also saw celebrities of which included Pamela Anderson, Tim Allen, Prince, Mathew Knowles, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Nick Cannon and Suzanne de Passe attend.[41] December 31, 2004, EWF performed at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.[42] and January 19, 2005, the band featuring Kenny G performed The Way You Move on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[43]
The Grammy-nominated single Show Me the Way, released in 2004, was featured on the studio album Illumination, which was released September 20, 2005. On this album EWF collaborated with artists such as Will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Big Boi of Outkast and Brian McKnight. Illumination reached number 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album Chart and number 32 on the Billboard 200 and the single Pure Gold from the album reached number 23 on the Adult Contemporary Charts. Allmusic's Rob Theakston referred to the album as an "outstanding record" and USA Today's Steve Jones wrote that on the album EWF are as "vibrant as ever".[44][45] The album got a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album and EWF were also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category R&B-soul album, group, band or duo for Illumination and also received a NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Duo or Group.[46]
February 6, 2005, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the Super Bowl XXXIX pregame show in Jacksonville, Florida along with the Black Eyed Peas. The performance consisted of Where Is the Love? and the classic Shining Star.[47][48] March 2005 EWF performed in Russia for the first time.[29]
In 2004 Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago embarked upon a joint tour. The tour gave rise to the DVD Chicago & Earth, Wind & Fire ? Live at the Greek Theatre, which was released June 28, 2005, and was certified platinum just two months after its release. Chicago and EWF toured together again in 2005 and Earth, Wind & Fire collaborated with Chicago for a new recording of Chicago's ballad "If You Leave Me Now" that was included on Chicago's 2005 compilation album Love Songs.
September 18, 2005, they performed along with the Black Eyed Peas as part of an opening act for the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards. Their performance marked the first time a musical artist has opened at the annual Emmy Awards show.[29] September 27, 2005, former Earth, Wind and Fire member and member of the Phenix Horns trombonist Louis Satterfield died. For the 2005 holiday season, David Foster, Maurice White and Philip Bailey wrote the Christmas-themed track Gather Round, which was produced and arranged by Foster. The song was placed onto the album Sounds of the Season: The NBC Holiday Collection.[49] Maurice worked with Gregory Hines's brother, Maurice Hines in 2006 to release the Broadway play Hot Feet, a jukebox musical featuring the music of Earth, Wind & Fire. White wrote several new songs along with Allee Willis for the play.
February 11, 2007, EWF along with Mary J Blige and Ludacris performed the song Runaway Love at the 49th Grammy Awards.[50]
Maurice was the executive producer of an album "Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire", released March 27, 2007. It featured cover versions of Earth, Wind and Fire's songs performed by artists such as Chaka Khan, Kirk Franklin, Lalah Hathaway, Mint Condition and Angie Stone. From this album renditions of "That?s The Way Of The World" performed by Dwele and Fantasy performed by Meshell Ndegeocello were each nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
April 25, 2007, the band was the opening act for the highly touted and publicized special edition of the reality TV series American Idol, "Idol Gives Back" where they performed a medley of "Boogie Wonderland", "Shining Star" and "September".[51] December 11, 2007, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, which took place in Oslo, Norway, and was hosted by Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman and also featured other performances by Melissa Etheridge, Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox and Kylie Minouge. The Nobel Peace Prize Concert was broadcast to over 100 countries.[52]
February 20, 2008, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the Vi?a del Mar Festival, in Vi?a del Mar, Chile on the festival's opening night. For their performance the public awarded them with the "Gaviota de Plata" or the Silver Seagull, the highest award that can presented to an artist performing at the festival, which is one of the largest musical events in Latin America.[53][54][55]
May 18, 2008, Maurice White, Ralph Johnson, Philip Bailey and Verdine White each received an honorary degree from the Arts and Media College at Columbia College Chicago during the college's 2008 commencement exercises. Verdine and Philip both gave remarks during the ceremony, which was followed by an impromptu performance of Shining Star by all four.[56] August 25 EWF performed at the opening ceremony of the 2008 US Open, which was hosted by Forrest Whitaker. The event commemorated the 40th anniversary of the founding of tennis?s Open Era with a parade of more than 25 former US Open singles champions.[57] November 2008 Verdine White was presented with Bass Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award by fellow bass guitarist Nathan East.[58]
Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the White House February 22, 2009, at the Governors' Dinner, which was the first formal White House dinner hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.[59] The band will tour once again with Chicago for a 2009 tour of thirty US cities.[60] EWF are also planning to release a three-disc package through a major retailer in 2009, which would include a studio album of new material, a live album and a concert DVD.[16][61] On April 26, 2009, EWF performed at the 39th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.[62] They also performed at the 40th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, replacing Arethra Franklin. Earth, Wind & Fire members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson participated in the recording of the We Are the World 25 for Haiti single.[63]
[edit] Influence
Earth, Wind & Fire's songs have been covered by artists such as Point of Grace, D'Angelo,[64] Lenny White,[64] Patti LaBelle,[65] The Manhattans, Wynonna Judd, Yolanda Adams, Donny Osmond, Chaka Khan, 112,[65] the Vienna Boys' Choir,[64] Herb Alpert,[66] Musiq Soulchild,[67] and Tito Puente.[65]
Earth, Wind & Fire's songs have been sampled by numerous artists, including A Tribe Called Quest, Wyclef Jean,[68] Jay-Z,[69] Amerie, The Fugees, LL Cool J, De La Soul, Common, Frank Zappa, Naughty by Nature, P Diddy, The Roots, Will Smith,[70] Cee-Lo Green,[71] Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez[72] of TLC and MC Lyte.[64][65][68][69]
Earth, Wind & Fire have influenced artists such as Usher,[73] Will.i.am,[74] Mary J. Blige,[75] Prince,[76] Pharrell Williams,[77] India.Arie,[78] The Neptunes,[79] Jon Secada,[80] Wyclef Jean,[81] Common,[82] Phil Collins,[83] Boney James,[84] Angie Stone,[85] Raphael Saadiq,[86] The All-American Rejects,[87] Jesse McCartney,[88] Musiq Soulchild,[89] Solange Knowles,[90] Babyface,[91] OutKast,[92] Jamiroquai,[93] Five for Fighting,[94] Lenny Kravitz,[95] Marc Broussard,[96] Omarion,[97] Rob Bourdon of Linkin Park,[98] Eric Ben?t,[99] Jill Scott,[100] Justin Timberlake,[101] Sheila E.,[102] Marcus Miller,[103] Erykah Badu,[104] Jamie Foxx,[105] Patrick Stump of
The platinum Raise!, EWF's eleventh album was released in the fall of 1981 and it featured their million selling hit single "Let's Groove", and the Grammy Award winning "Wanna Be With You". October 30, 1981, Earth, Wind & Fire appeared at American Bandstand's 30th Anniversary Special where they performed Let's Groove.[28]
Earth, Wind & Fire performing at the Oakland Coliseum in 1981
Powerlight was released in early 1983 and included the hit singles "Fall In Love With Me" a number 17 pop hit, and "Side By Side." "Powerlight" went gold. Also in 1983, Earth, Wind & Fire contributed the song "Dance, Dance, Dance" to the soundtrack of the animated film Rock & Rule. Maurice put the band on hiatus in 1983 after the synthesized Electric Universe was released in late 1983 to a poor critical and commercial reception. Maurice White attributes the album's lack of success to its release so quickly after Powerlight.
During their hiatus, Philip Bailey released his second and most successful solo project, the gold album Chinese Wall, which also featured the Phenix Horns. The first single from that Phil Collins produced album, a duet with Collins called "Easy Lover", sold over a million copies and also reached number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100. The music video of Bailey and Collins rehearsing their collaboration hit #1 on MTV's video playlist, and won an MTV video music award. During this period, Bailey also released a number of gospel albums, and one of them, Triumph, won him a Grammy Award for Best Gospel Vocal Performance, Male. Also, during the hiatus, Verdine White worked behind the scenes, writing and directing videos. He produced the Level 42 album Standing in the Light, with Larry Dunn, and promoted go-go bands like Trouble Funk and E.U.[7]
Maurice White during this time produced for Barbra Streisand on her platinum album Emotion and worked with Neil Diamond on his gold album Headed for the Future and Cher on her 1987 platinum album Cher. He also released the solo album Maurice White in 1985, which included a cover of "Stand by Me", which went to number 6 on the R&B charts and number 11 on the Adult Contemporary charts. The album also featured an appearance by saxophonist Gerald Albright. The compilation album The Collection was released May 1986 and this album went to number 5 on the UK singles charts for two weeks and was certified gold in the UK by the British Phonographic Industry.
In 1987, CBS Records convinced Philip Bailey and Maurice White that a reunion of Earth, Wind & Fire would be beneficial for all parties. Verdine White, Ralph Johnson and Andrew Woofolk would also return and new to the group were guitarist/vocalist Sheldon Reynolds, lead guitarist Dick Smith, drummer Sonny Emory,and a new horn section dubbed the Earth, Wind and Fire Horns made up of Gary Bias on the saxophone, Raymond Lee Brown on the trumpet and flugelhorn and trombonist Reggie Young. The band's reunion fostered the 1987 Gold album Touch the World, which went onto number 3 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number 33 on The Billboard 200. Featured on the album was a song penned by an unknown songwriter by the name of Skylark called "System of Survival". Released as a single the song became a hit reaching number one on the Billboard R&B charts and Dance charts, and another single called "Thinking Of You" peaked at number one and number 3 on the R&B and Dance charts.
[edit] Later Career (1988?2003)
The band continued to release new albums, including the compilation album The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2 released in 1988. Their final Columbia album was 1990's Heritage, which featured a collaboration with Sly Stone of Sly & the Family Stone. 1993 saw the Warner Bros. release Millennium. The single "Sunday Morning" from Millennium gained a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group. The album also featured the Prince written track Super Hero. July 30, 1993, Phenix Horns saxophonist Don Myrick was fatally shot by the Los Angeles Police Department in a case of mistaken identity and October 13, 1993, former Earth, Wind & Fire member Wade Flemons died from cancer in Battle Creek, Michigan.
Earth, Wind & Fire star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
In 1994, Earth, Wind & Fire were inducted into the NAACP Hall Of Fame. September 15, 1995, Earth, Wind & Fire was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[29] All the original members of the group showed up. Maurice White attributed EWF's success to the support of their fans. During this time, Maurice White retired from touring with the band for health reasons, concentrating more on producing and developing new Earth, Wind & Fire recordings and working with other artists. Philip Bailey was then given the role of onstage leader of the band. The studio album In the Name of Love was released in 1997 on Pyramid Records. EWF performed at the 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival and gave an encore performance the following year. Their performance was released on the DVD Earth, Wind & Fire: Live At Montreux 1997. In 1999 Earth, Wind & Fire performed on the A&E Network show Live by Request.[30]
Earth, Wind & Fire was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame March 6, 2000, by rapper Lil' Kim to a standing ovation. The band's original members Maurice White, Philip Bailey, Verdine White, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Larry Dunn, Andrew Woofolk, Fred White and Johnny Graham played together for the first time in 20 years at the ceremony performing Shining Star and That's The Way Of The World.[2] After their induction into the Hall of Fame an effort was made by the original band members to have a full reunion but it didn't work out.[31] June 20, 2000, Earth, Wind & Fire were the special musical guests at a White House state dinner hosted by President Bill Clinton held in a tent on the South Lawn of the White House, held in honor of His Majesty Mohammed VI, King of Morocco and Her Royal Highness Princess Lalla Meryem.[29][32] So impressed was he by the band's performance that the king personally requested that Earth, Wind & Fire perform in Morocco for his 37th birthday celebration, which took place August 21, 2000.[33]
In 2001, EWF released a biography of the band, Shining Stars: The Official Story Of Earth, Wind & Fire, directed by Kathryn Arnold. Following the September 11 attacks, the band members donated $25,000 to the American Red Cross at a September 13 show at the Verizon Wireless Virginia Beach Amphitheater in Virginia, which was the band's first concert since the events took place.[34]
February 24, 2002, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the closing ceremonies of the 2002 Winter Olympics held in Salt Lake City, Utah.[35] Maurice White released on his own label Kalimba Records the album Live In Rio in 2002, a live album from the band's 1980 performance in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
June 17, 2002, EWF accepted the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. The award was presented by Jimmy Jam, ASCAP President and Chairman Marilyn Bergman and Stevie Wonder.[36] In 2003 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and Earth, Wind & Fire were also inducted into Hollywood's RockWalk July 7, 2003.[37]
The Promise, the band's first studio album in six years was released in 2003. The Promise received critical acclaim upon its release with Blender Magazine calling the album "a classy collection" and People Magazine describing The Promise as "musically rich".[38][39] The Promise included songs reminiscent of classic EW&F such as the kalimba laden track "All in the Way", which reunited EWF with The Emotions, and Betcha' and also on it were two previously unreleased songs from the "I Am" sessions titled "Where Do We Go From Here" and "Dirty". The Promise went to number 19 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts and the song Hold Me from The Promise was Grammy nominated for Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance.
[edit] Current Career (2004?present)
This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (May 2010)
February 8, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire with Maurice White showing up performed alongside OutKast, Robert Randolph and the Family Band and Parliament Funkadelic in a Tribute to Funk at the 46th annual Grammy Awards. They sang Shining Star solo, and then at the request of Outkast teamed up with them to croon The Way You Move.[21][40]
Mid 2004, Earth, Wind & Fire signed an exclusive record deal with Sanctuary Urban Records Group, owned by Mathew Knowles, father and manager of rhythm and blues musician Beyonc?. May 4, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire contributed to the Jimi Hendrix Tribute Album Power of Soul: A Tribute to Jimi Hendrix with a cover of Voodoo Child (Slight Return). September 28, 2004, Queen Latifah released her album The Dana Owens Album, which featured Gary Bias and Bob Burns Jr. of the Earth, Wind and Fire Horns. The album reached number 16 and 11 on The Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album charts and went gold. November 23, 2004, Kenny G released the album At Last...The Duets Album featuring Earth, Wind & Fire on the track The Way You Move, which was released as a single and went to number 12 on the Adult Contemporary singles chart.
December 11, 2004, Earth, Wind and Fire were honored at the first annual Grammy Jam held at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles where several artists of which included Stevie Wonder, Yolanda Adams, Sheila E., Miri Ben-Ari, George Duke, Kanye West and Randy Jackson performed EWF songs. The event also saw celebrities of which included Pamela Anderson, Tim Allen, Prince, Mathew Knowles, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Nick Cannon and Suzanne de Passe attend.[41] December 31, 2004, EWF performed at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.[42] and January 19, 2005, the band featuring Kenny G performed The Way You Move on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.[43]
The Grammy-nominated single Show Me the Way, released in 2004, was featured on the studio album Illumination, which was released September 20, 2005. On this album EWF collaborated with artists such as Will.i.am, Kelly Rowland, Big Boi of Outkast and Brian McKnight. Illumination reached number 8 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album Chart and number 32 on the Billboard 200 and the single Pure Gold from the album reached number 23 on the Adult Contemporary Charts. Allmusic's Rob Theakston referred to the album as an "outstanding record" and USA Today's Steve Jones wrote that on the album EWF are as "vibrant as ever".[44][45] The album got a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album and EWF were also nominated for a Soul Train Music Award in the category R&B-soul album, group, band or duo for Illumination and also received a NAACP Image Award nomination for Best Duo or Group.[46]
February 6, 2005, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the Super Bowl XXXIX pregame show in Jacksonville, Florida along with the Black Eyed Peas. The performance consisted of Where Is the Love? and the classic Shining Star.[47][48] March 2005 EWF performed in Russia for the first time.[29]
In 2004 Earth, Wind & Fire and Chicago embarked upon a joint tour. The tour gave rise to the DVD Chicago & Earth, Wind & Fire ? Live at the Greek Theatre, which was released June 28, 2005, and was certified platinum just two months after its release. Chicago and EWF toured together again in 2005 and Earth, Wind & Fire collaborated with Chicago for a new recording of Chicago's ballad "If You Leave Me Now" that was included on Chicago's 2005 compilation album Love Songs.
September 18, 2005, they performed along with the Black Eyed Peas as part of an opening act for the 57th Primetime Emmy Awards. Their performance marked the first time a musical artist has opened at the annual Emmy Awards show.[29] September 27, 2005, former Earth, Wind and Fire member and member of the Phenix Horns trombonist Louis Satterfield died. For the 2005 holiday season, David Foster, Maurice White and Philip Bailey wrote the Christmas-themed track Gather Round, which was produced and arranged by Foster. The song was placed onto the album Sounds of the Season: The NBC Holiday Collection.[49] Maurice worked with Gregory Hines's brother, Maurice Hines in 2006 to release the Broadway play Hot Feet, a jukebox musical featuring the music of Earth, Wind & Fire. White wrote several new songs along with Allee Willis for the play.
February 11, 2007, EWF along with Mary J Blige and Ludacris performed the song Runaway Love at the 49th Grammy Awards.[50]
Maurice was the executive producer of an album "Interpretations: Celebrating the Music of Earth, Wind & Fire", released March 27, 2007. It featured cover versions of Earth, Wind and Fire's songs performed by artists such as Chaka Khan, Kirk Franklin, Lalah Hathaway, Mint Condition and Angie Stone. From this album renditions of "That?s The Way Of The World" performed by Dwele and Fantasy performed by Meshell Ndegeocello were each nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance.
April 25, 2007, the band was the opening act for the highly touted and publicized special edition of the reality TV series American Idol, "Idol Gives Back" where they performed a medley of "Boogie Wonderland", "Shining Star" and "September".[51] December 11, 2007, Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert, which took place in Oslo, Norway, and was hosted by Kevin Spacey and Uma Thurman and also featured other performances by Melissa Etheridge, Alicia Keys, Annie Lennox and Kylie Minouge. The Nobel Peace Prize Concert was broadcast to over 100 countries.[52]
February 20, 2008, Earth, Wind and Fire performed at the Vi?a del Mar Festival, in Vi?a del Mar, Chile on the festival's opening night. For their performance the public awarded them with the "Gaviota de Plata" or the Silver Seagull, the highest award that can presented to an artist performing at the festival, which is one of the largest musical events in Latin America.[53][54][55]
May 18, 2008, Maurice White, Ralph Johnson, Philip Bailey and Verdine White each received an honorary degree from the Arts and Media College at Columbia College Chicago during the college's 2008 commencement exercises. Verdine and Philip both gave remarks during the ceremony, which was followed by an impromptu performance of Shining Star by all four.[56] August 25 EWF performed at the opening ceremony of the 2008 US Open, which was hosted by Forrest Whitaker. The event commemorated the 40th anniversary of the founding of tennis?s Open Era with a parade of more than 25 former US Open singles champions.[57] November 2008 Verdine White was presented with Bass Player magazine's Lifetime Achievement Award by fellow bass guitarist Nathan East.[58]
Earth, Wind & Fire performed at the White House February 22, 2009, at the Governors' Dinner, which was the first formal White House dinner hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.[59] The band will tour once again with Chicago for a 2009 tour of thirty US cities.[60] EWF are also planning to release a three-disc package through a major retailer in 2009, which would include a studio album of new material, a live album and a concert DVD.[16][61] On April 26, 2009, EWF performed at the 39th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival.[62] They also performed at the 40th New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, replacing Arethra Franklin. Earth, Wind & Fire members Philip Bailey, Verdine White and Ralph Johnson participated in the recording of the We Are the World 25 for Haiti single.[63]
[edit] Influence
Earth, Wind & Fire's songs have been covered by artists such as Point of Grace, D'Angelo,[64] Lenny White,[64] Patti LaBelle,[65] The Manhattans, Wynonna Judd, Yolanda Adams, Donny Osmond, Chaka Khan, 112,[65] the Vienna Boys' Choir,[64] Herb Alpert,[66] Musiq Soulchild,[67] and Tito Puente.[65]
Earth, Wind & Fire's songs have been sampled by numerous artists, including A Tribe Called Quest, Wyclef Jean,[68] Jay-Z,[69] Amerie, The Fugees, LL Cool J, De La Soul, Common, Frank Zappa, Naughty by Nature, P Diddy, The Roots, Will Smith,[70] Cee-Lo Green,[71] Lisa "Left Eye" Lopez[72] of TLC and MC Lyte.[64][65][68][69]
Earth, Wind & Fire have influenced artists such as Usher,[73] Will.i.am,[74] Mary J. Blige,[75] Prince,[76] Pharrell Williams,[77] India.Arie,[78] The Neptunes,[79] Jon Secada,[80] Wyclef Jean,[81] Common,[82] Phil Collins,[83] Boney James,[84] Angie Stone,[85] Raphael Saadiq,[86] The All-American Rejects,[87] Jesse McCartney,[88] Musiq Soulchild,[89] Solange Knowles,[90] Babyface,[91] OutKast,[92] Jamiroquai,[93] Five for Fighting,[94] Lenny Kravitz,[95] Marc Broussard,[96] Omarion,[97] Rob Bourdon of Linkin Park,[98] Eric Ben?t,[99] Jill Scott,[100] Justin Timberlake,[101] Sheila E.,[102] Marcus Miller,[103] Erykah Badu,[104] Jamie Foxx,[105] Patrick Stump of
