Bill Withers

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938 in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia and was raised in the nearby town of Beckley. He was the youngest of six children. His coal miner father died when Withers was only thirteen. Bill worked a series of odd jobs to help his mother out. At age seventeen he joined the US Navy and first became interested in both singing and songwriting during his tour of duty in the armed forces. After being discharged from the Navy in 1965, Bill moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a music career. Withers worked a full time job making toilet seats at the Boeing aircraft company and recorded demos on the side at night for several years prior to being signed to the Sussex Records label in 1970. In 1971 Bill released his debut album "Just As I Am." The song "Ain't No Sunshine" was a #3 R&B radio hit and won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. Withers scored a massive smash in 1972 with the marvelously inspirational "Lean on Me," which reached #1 on the Billboard pop charts on July 8. "Use Me" was likewise successful; it peaked at #2 on the Billboard pop charts. In the summer of 1974 Bill performed in concert along with James Brown, Etta James and BB King at the historic Ali/Frasier fight in Zaire , Morrisey, Paul McCartney, Michael Bolton, Fiona Apple, Sting, Kenny Rogers, and Johnny Mathis. Withers was the recipient of the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award in 2006. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame in 2007. Bill's songs have been featured on the soundtracks to such movies as "Hoot," "Roll Bounce," "Starsky & Hutch," "Bandits," "Exit Wounds," "Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me," "American Beauty," "Notting Hill," "The Bodyguard," "American Me," "Lean on Me," and "Looking for Mr. Goodbar," plus episodes of the TV shows "Entourage," "LAX," "Cold Case," "Keen Eddie," "Six Feet Under," "The Wire," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigations," and "The Simpsons."