His beloved elder brother was murdered, and Barry was jailed at the age of 16, for theft. Born on September 12, 1944, he grew up on the streets of South Central Los Angeles, and while he could play the piano and sing from a young age, Barry’s teenage years were marked by crime and violence. Love coming onīarry White may have been a lover, but he was also a fighter. Listen to the best of Barry White on Apple Music and Spotify.

This is the magic of the truly great Barry White, the most underrated of all of the icons of African-American music. This is a message to make female fans swoon. This is a feeling any lover could understand. I am a big, strong fella, but my desire for you has brought me to my knees. And you express your vulnerability in song. When you are a guy who is not conventionally handsome, not given to joking about intimacy, whose musical ability remains unknown to the public, and who is actually quite reserved and not remotely desperate for fame, how do you become the lord of bedroom soul? When you are, to use a sporting term, a big unit, yet highly romantic and sincerely passionate, how do you convince an audience to take you seriously as creator of sultry grooves to fuel the population boom? Barry White’s romantic soul, however, came from a different place entirely. And Marvin only got away with his sexy stuff because he was a handsome musical genius who could do what he liked. Donna Summer abandoned the abandonment that made “Love To Love You Baby” her breakthrough hit.

Romeo took to denying that his jokey 1969 hit “Wet Dream” was about sex. Donna Summer reggae singer Max Romeo, on occasion Marvin Gaye on the likes of “You Sure Love To Ball,” but they walked a thin line between taste and ridiculousness. In the 70s, not many artists could get away with being explicit about sex. How much is too much? Sex and seduction can be a difficult issue in music.

Black legend barry white