Barry White

Barry White first made his mark in the music business in the 1960s as a session musician, even serving for a spell as an A&R man for a small, independent Los Angeles record label.

Father of Barry White Jr., Melva, Nina (born 1965) and Darryl (born 1966) from his first marriage to "Betty White" - Father of Shaherah White or Brigette from his marriage to Glodean White.

He first hit it big in 1973 with a series of albums and singles emphasizing lush orchestrations and elaborate production values, over which he laid down his big bass voice.

In 1973 and 1974 alone, he sold US$16 million worth of records--not only on his own but also as the conductor and composer of instrumental records (as The Love Unlimited Orchestra) and as the primary producer and songwriter of the female vocal trio Love Unlimited (one of whom, Glodean White, became his second wife).

1974 was a prolific year for White, during which he composed the score of Together Brothers (1974) and acted in Coonskin (1974).

Parodied by Chevy Chase (as "Very White") in a first-season episode of Saturday Night Live (1975).

In the fall of October 1995, White was admitted to a hospital as result of high blood pressure.

In August 1999, White was force to cancel a month's worth of tour dates owing to exhaustion, high blood pressure and a hectic schedule.

In September 2002, White was hospitalized with kidney failure attributed to chronic diabetes mellitus and high blood pressure.

Biography in: "The Scribner Encyclopedia of American Lives". Volume 7, 2003-2005, pages 568-569. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2007.

Posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame on September 20, 2004.

He was posthumously awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for Recording at 6914 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California on September 12, 2013.