Barry White

The story began with the fact that 17-year-old Barry Carter, who grew up in the criminal areas of Los Angeles, went to jail for 4 months for stealing tires. Sitting on the bunk, Barry heard Elvis Presley's "It's Now Or Never" on the radio. This event, according to him, made him change the course of his life - after leaving prison, Barry gave up theft and began to sing - at first in groups, and since the mid-60s solo. He has produced, worked as a "talent hunter" for music companies, and arranged songs such as Bob & Earl's hit "Harlem Shuffle".

At first, Barry White was embarrassed to go out to the microphone on his own, he was so used to being the "gray cardinal" of popular artists, in particular, Love Unlimited, a female ensemble that copied the style of The Supremes. However, in 1973 he recorded his first solo hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More, Baby". A distinctive feature of White's style is his deep baritone, lush arrangements and recitative soulful intros to the songs. Themes of love and desire ran like a red thread through the work of the loving Barry. In 1974 he married the main vocalist of his group, Glodean James. In 1973, White recorded his perhaps most famous song, "Never, Never Gonna Give You Up", which was later performed by many famous artists.

In 1979 Barry decided to start his own label and left the record company 20th Century. However, independent work did not work out - White lost a lot of money, so he had to earn money with concerts, and in 1987 he signed to A&M Records. Although Barry's popularity declined with the end of the disco era, in the 90s he continued to record and even helped out two Grammys for the album "Staying Power" (1999), the last in the musician's discography. In old age, Barry White suffered from high blood pressure and died after a heart attack in 2003. Barry was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame in 2004.