  Earth, Wind & Fire hail from
Chicago and formed in 1969. The conception of
the landmark R&B group began with Maurice
White who started his career as a member of
the Ramsey Lewis Trio at age
22 before forming The Salty Peppers
with Don Whitehead and Wade Flemons and
signing with Capitol Records. With 1 hit
under his belt ("La La Time"),
White moved to California and formed 'Earth,
Wind & Fire' with Whitehead, Flemons,
Sherry Scott, Michael Beale, Chet Washington,
Alex Thomas and Yackov Ben Israel.
 Earth, Wind & Fire signed
with Warner Brothers and released Earth,
Wind & Fire. The track "Love Is
Life" had some airplay success.
Earth, Wind & Fire released The
Need Of Love. The track "I Think About
Lovin' You" hit the R&B charts.
 After 2 LPs receiving positive
feedback from the critics, but little
commercial success, White restructured Earth,
Wind & Fire: Maurice White, Verdine
White, Ronnie Laws, Jessica Cleaves, Ralph
Johnson, Philip Bailey, Roland Bautista, and
Larry Dunn. The group signed with CBS
Records.
Earth, Wind & Fire released Last
Days And Time. The group again found little
commercial success. Andrew Woolfolk, Johnny
Graham, and Al McKay joined Earth, Wind &
Fire to replace departing members Laws and
Bautista.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released Head
To The Sky with the tracks
"Evil" and "Keep Your Head To
The Sky."
Head
To The Sky was certified gold.
Cleaves, the only female member
of Earth, Wind & Fire, left the group.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released Open
Our Eyes. The group had some success
with the track "Devoltion" (their
first Top 40 pop hit) and "Kalimba
Story" and "Mighty Mighty"
(which both went Top 10 on the R&B
charts.
Open
Our Eyes was certified gold.
Fred White joined Earth, Wind
& Fire and the group was now using a horn
section, the Phoenix Horns, headed by Don
Myrick.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released That's
The Way Of The World. The LP was a
soundtrack to an unsuccessful film, but
proved to be Earth Wind & Fire's first
major commercial success. The track
"Shining Star" topped the pop and
R&B charts.
That's
The Way Of The World was certified
gold.
Earth, Wind & Fire topped
the Billboard Albums chart for 3 weeks with That's
The Way Of The World.
The single "Shining
Star" was certified gold.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released
the live and studio LP Gratitude and had hits with
"Sun Goddess," "Can't Hide
Love," and the #1 R&B hit "Sing
A Song."
Gratitude was certified
gold.
Earth, Wind & Fire topped
the Billboard Albums chart for 3 weeks Gratitude.
Earth, Wind & Fire were
nominated for 3 American Music Awards for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group, Favorite Soul/R&B Album (That's
The Way Of The World), and Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group.
Earth, Wind & Fire won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Shining
Star").
The single "Sing A
Song" was certified gold.
 Earth, Wind
& Fire released Spirit with the hits
"Getaway" and "Saturday
Night."
The single "Getaway"
was certified gold.
Spirit was certified
platinum.
Earth, Wind & Fire won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group and were nominated for Favorite Soul/R&B Album (That's
The Way Of The World and Spirit) and Favorite Pop/Rock Band/Duo/Group.
Earth, Wind & Fire were
nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group (Gratitude) and Best Arrangement
For Voices ("Can't Hide Love").
 Earth, Wind
& Fire released All
'N All with the favorite
"Fantasy" and #1 R&B track
"Serpentine Fire."
All
'N All was certified gold.
All
'N All was certified
platinum.
Earth, Wind & Fire won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group.
The single "Got To Get You
Into My Life" was certified gold.
 The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I was released.
The group hit the charts with "Got To
Get You Into My Life" (from the
soundtrack to Sgt.
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band) and
"September" (both hitting #1 on the
R&B charts).
The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I was certified
platinum.
Earth, Wind & Fire won an American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group and were nominated for for Favorite Soul/R&B Album (All
'N All).
The single "September"
was certified gold.
Earth, Wind & Fire won 2 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group (All'n
All) and Best R&B Instrumental
Performance ("Runnin'") and were
nominated for Best Pop Vocal Performance by a
Duo or Group ("Got To Get You Into My
Life").
The single "Boogie
Wonderland" was certified gold.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released I
Am.
The LP featured the Top 10 hits "Boogie
Wonderland" (with The Emotions)
and "After The Love Has Gone."
I
Am
was certified platinum.
The single "After The Love
Has Gone" was certified gold.
 # 115
Singles Artist of the Year
Earth, Wind
& Fire were nominated for an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group.
Earth, Wind & Fire won 2 Grammy Awards for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("After The Love
Has Gone") and Best R&B Instrumental
Performance ("Boogie
Wonderland"), and were nominated for Record of the Year ("After The Love
Has Gone") and Best Disco Recording ("Boogie
Wonderland").
 Earth, Wind & Fire released Faces.
Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "Let Me Talk."
Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "You."
 # 47
Singles Artist of the Year
Earth, Wind & Fire won an American Music
Award for Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group.
Faces was certified gold.
Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "And Love Goes On."
 Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "Let's Groove."
Earth, Wind & Fire released Raise!
Earth, Wind & Fire hit the Top 10 with "Let's Groove."
Raise! was certified
platinum.
 # 96
Singles Artist of the Year
 The single "Let's Groove" was certified
gold.
Earth, Wind & Fire were
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Let's Groove").
 # 74
Singles Artist of the Year
 Earth, Wind & Fire released Powerlight.
Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "Fall In Love With Me."
Earth, Wind & Fire won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Wanna Be With
You"). The group tied with The
Dazz Band in this category.
Powerlight was certified gold.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released Electric
Universe with the Top 10 R&B hit
"Magnetic,"
Maurice White
disbanded Earth, Wind & Fire.
 Philip
Bailey: # 171
Singles Artist of the Year
Earth, Wind & Fire were
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Fall In Love With Me").
The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I, I
Am,
All
'N All, and Spirit were certified 2x
platinum.
 Philip
Bailey: # 78
Singles Artist of the Year ~ Maurice
White: # 188
Singles Artist of the Year
That's
The Way Of The World and Gratitude were certified 2x
platinum, and Open
Our Eyes was certified platinum.
 Touch
The World was released. The release
marked a reunion of sort with Earth, Wind
& Fire members and a new member, Sheldon
Reynolds. The LP included the #1 R&B song
"System Of Survival" and Top 10
R&B track "Thinking Of You."
Touch
The World was certified gold.
 The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol II was released.
Heritage was released.
The group had R&B hits with
"Heritage," "For The Love Of
You," and "Wanna Be The Man."
 The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I was certified
3x platinum.
The box set The
Eternal Dance was released.
 # 146
Singles Artist of the Year
The group's saxophonist, Don
Myrick, was a victim of mistaken identity by
the LA Police Department and fatally shot.
 Earth, Wind & Fire hit the
Top 40 with "Sunday Morning."
Millennium was released.
Earth, Wind & Fire were
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Sunday
Morning").
The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. I was certified
4x platinum.
All
'N All was certified 3x platinum.
The
Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol II was certified gold.
 Head
To The Sky was certified platinum.
Elements
Of Love: Ballads was released.
Greatest
Hits Live was released.
 Earth, Wind & Fire released In
The Name Of Love.
Ranked # 60 on VH1: Greatest
Artists of Rock & Roll (and
# 95 on Rock On The Net's
Poll).
That's
The Way Of The World was certified 3x
platinum.
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