Results: Remembering Bill Withers

Bill Withers, a singer whose music regularly hit on pop and soul radio from the early 1970's to the early '80's, died due to a heart condition in early April 2020. I've enjoyed his music since my youth. Are you familiar with Withers' music, and were you aware of his passing?

Because he walked away from the music business for good in the mid-'80's and has kept a fairly low profile since then, you may be familiar with some of Withers' music without knowing he's the man behind it. Which of these Withers hits do you like?

Other acts have had occasional success remaking Withers' songs, but a couple of my favorites originated, perhaps improbably, from contemporary Christian music. New wave/funk band Adam Again's rendition of "Ain't No Sunshine" stands out for its wounded brilliance (and, sadly, may have prefigured the divorce of the couple who led the group). Much sunnier and at least as effective is sisterly r&b trio Out Of Eden's take on "Lovely Day" wherein they redirected lyrics about a paramour to be about the Lord. Do you appreciate it when musicians recontextualze songs to be about subjects they originally weren't about?

Withers was 81 when he died, the same age as pop country singer Kenny Rogers when he passed on earlier this year. Neither Withers nor Rogers succumbed to Covid-19, but other younger singers and musicians who haven't had quite the culture reach as those two have died because of the coronavirus currently at the root of the latest world pandemic. Do you share my suspicion that 2020 may be another boom year for high profile musical funerals akin to 2016, when Debbie Reynolds, George Michaels, Prince and so many notable others left the world?