Earth, Wind & Fire drummer Fred White has passed away, the band and White's brother Verdine announced on 1 January. No cause of death is given. Fred White was 67 years old.

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White was a drum prodigy, touring with the likes of Donny Hathaway before finishing high school and joining his siblings in Earth, Wind & Fire before his 20th birthday. 

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His arrival in the band in 1974 established him in the twin-drummer engine room of a hitmaking powerhouse.

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The band's commercial heyday began a year later with "Shining Star", a no. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.

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Mixing upbeat ballads and body-shaking soul, Earth, Wind & Fire became pop figureheads of the disco era.

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Songs like 1976's "Saturday Night" established the band as a transatlantic success, even as "September" and "Boogie Wonderland" became international sensations decades later.

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White left the group in the early 1980s, but returned in 2000 for their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. 

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He continues to sing with artists including Diana Ross and Bonnie Raitt, most recently on Ross's 2021 album.

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White was born in 1955 in Chicago to a family of musicians, including older brothers Verdine and Maurice White.

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He showed talent for the drums early in life - a "child protégé", says his brother Verdin - and even had success playing drums in Chicago with Donny Hathaway as a teenager.

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