BILL WITHERS OF ‘LEAN ON ME’ FAME BOWS OUT AT 81

William Harrison Withers popularly known as Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. He recorded several major hits, including ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Grandma’s Hands’ (1971), ‘Use Me’ and his most popular song ‘Lean on Me’ (1972), ‘Lovely Day’ (1977), and ‘Just the Two of Us’ (1980). Withers has won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for six more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film ‘Still Bill’. He was inducted into the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015. 

BILL WITHERS THE SOULFUL SINGER

Bill Withers became well known all over the world with his signature song ‘Lean on Me’ which though was released as a single but was a track in his second album ‘Still Bill’. The single ‘Lean on Me’ went to number one the week of July 8, 1972. It was his second gold single with confirmed sales in excess of three million copies after his debut album ‘Just as I Am’ which was released in 1971 with the tracks ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ and ‘Grandma’s Hands’ as singles. William Withers collaborated with some American big artists including Gladys Knight & the Pips, James Brown, Etta James and B.B. King in the mid-1970s.

BILL WITHERS ON STAGE

Perhaps the greatest honour to Bill Withers was the performance of Lean on Me, a paean to friendship at the inaugurations of former Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. Both ‘Lean on Me’ and ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’ are among Rolling Stone’s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

BILL WITHERS AND WIFE MARCIA JOHNSON

Bill Withers married Marcia Johnson in 1976 and they had two children, Todd and Kori. Marcia eventually assumed the direct management of his Beverly Hills–based publishing companies, in which his children also became involved as they became adults.  Bill Withers died of heart complications on Monday March 30, 2020. He was aged 81.