Bill Withers

American musician (1938–2020)

In the Vinony graph

Bill Withers is indexed among the 410 entries in Vinony's Rock & Roll Hall of Fame collection.

Within Vinony's link graph, Bill Withers is referenced by 1,230 other articles, and connects out to Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alexis Petridis and Michael Jackson.

It sits within the topics 1938 births, 2020 deaths and 20th-century African-American male singers.

Its subject is documented across 44 Wikipedia language editions.

Person · Open Library

Works: 9

Top works

Lean on Me
A letter to Sir Walter Scott, bart., exposing certain fundamental errors in his late Essay on planting, and containing observations on the pruning and thinning of woods, and maxims for profitable planting
Conflict and Communication
Resolving conflicts on the job
The conflict and communication activity book

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Slab Fork, West Virginia, USA

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. (July 4, 1938 - March 30, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands". Description above from the Wikipedia article Bill…

Known for

The Groove Under the Groove2026
Heartbreakers at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2023
Nueva York: A Musical History of Latin New York — Self (archive footage)2021
The Black Godfather — Self2019
Mr. SOUL! — Self (archive footage)2018
Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame: In Concert 2014-2017 — Self2018
Kings of Soul — Self2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert — Self2015
Still Bill — Self2010
Kenny Rogers and Friends — Self2010

via TMDB

Music · MusicBrainz

Type: Person
Gender: Male
Origin: United States
Active from: 1938
Active to: 2020

1970sdeep soulfunkmotownpop soulrhythm & blues

Discography

Member of

Creative Source

Official site Discogs Stream

via MusicBrainz · CC0

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners: 2,745,546
Total plays: 41,528,299

Recent publications · Crossref

5 total works indexed

via Crossref · CC0

Quotes

“Ain't no sunshine when she's gone It's not warm when she's away Ain't no sunshine when she's gone And she's always gone too long Anytime she's goes away”
“And I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know I know Hey I oughta leave the young thing alone But ain't no sunshine when she's gone.”
“Sometimes in our lives we all have pain We all have sorrow But if we are wise We know that there's always tomorrow.”
“Lean on me, when you're not strong And I'll be your friend I'll help you carry on For it won't be long 'Til I'm gonna need Somebody to lean on.”
“I grew up in the age of Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Nancy Wilson … It was a time where a fat, ugly broad that could sing had value. Now everything is about image. It’s not poetry. This just isn’t my time.”
“What few songs I wrote during my brief career, there ain’t a genre that somebody didn’t record them in. I’m not a virtuoso, but I was able to write songs that people could identify with. I don’t think I’ve done bad for a guy from Slab Fork, West Virginia.”

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born: William Harrison Withers Jr. , ( 1938-07-04 ) July 4, 1938, Slab Fork, West Virginia , U.S.
Died: March 30, 2020 (2020-03-30) (aged 81), Los Angeles , California, U.S.
Genres: R&B soul
Occupations: Singer songwriter musician record producer
Instruments: Vocals guitar keyboards
Years active: 1967–1985 2004
Labels: Sussex Columbia
Website: billwithers .com

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Official website: www.billwithersmusic.com
Image: Bill Withers 1976.JPG
Number of children: 2

Show 7 more facts

date of birth: 1938-07-04
birth name: William Harrison Withers, Jr.
name in native language: Bill Withers
start of work period: 1963-00-00
date of death: 2020-03-30
Commons category: Bill Withers
social media followers: 690000

Sources (14)

via Wikidata · CC0

~16 min read

Encyclopedic overview

William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Slab Fork, West Virginia, and raised in Beckley, West Virginia, he is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977) and "Just the Two of Us" (1980) (recorded in collaboration with Grover Washington Jr.). Withers won three Grammy Awards out of nine total nominations. He largely stopped performing and recording in the mid-1980s, citing burnout and conflicts with record company executives.

His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill. Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 and the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2025. Two of his songs, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me", were inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Bill Withers” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.