Philip Bailey
For a musical figure with an illustrious past and a busy present, Philip Bailey has somehow remained firmly focused on the future. "I look at my whole career as part of constantly building, maturing and growing," explains Bailey. "For me, the gift of making music is all about evolving. It's always been about taking that next step."From his childhood in Denver — not exactly a hotbed of R&B — through decades productively creating, recording and performing a wide range of music both as a shining star with Earth, Wind & Fire and as a successful solo artist in multiple genres, Philip Bailey has consistently gone to all sorts of interesting musical places."Once you get inside a form of music and understand where it's coming from — its origin and all the people who make it — there's a world of people and sounds out there and music is the perfect chance for exploration. Music allows people to go places that perhaps they'll never be able to travel to. But through the music, you can bring them a different part of the world, a different world of sound. I believe that's part of the reason I am still excited and enamored with the world of music. The fact that I get to explore all these different types of music and experience all of these collaborations keeps my pulse going musically."
As Bailey recalls, "My mother told me that I was singing before I was talking. Music was my first language." Indeed, Bailey has had a love and appreciation for all kinds of music from an extremely early age. He grew up listening to country, to Top Ten radio, to folk music and to jazz, after discovering Miles Davis and John Coltrane in the record collection of his mother's friend.
Millions of music lovers around the world discovered Bailey through his wildly successful work as a core member, writer, musician and the other lead vocalist along with Maurice White in the legendary group, Earth, Wind & Fire, a band of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees that's never wasted too much time with labels and categories.
The impact of Earth, Wind & Fire has been such that some critics even dubbed the group "The Black Beatles," a reflection of the power of the music the group has made. "Our message is one of love, but also more about being conscious," Bailey says. "We're about trying to wake people up to life and all that's out there. My voice is my instrument — beyond being a percussionist — and you never stop discovering the instrument and learning things through a lifetime, through a journey. I've never looked at putting a period there. It's about moving forward."
That forward-thinking approach to music, and to life itself, has been at the heart of Bailey's solo career that began with 1982's Continuation, and the 1984 platinum follow-up Chinese Wall, produced by Phil Collins and featuring their global smash duet "Easy Lover."
For a musical figure with an illustrious past and a busy present, Philip Bailey has somehow remained firmly focused on the future. "I look at my whole career as part of constantly building, maturing and growing," explains Bailey. "For me, the gift of making music is all about evolving. It's always been about taking that next step."From his childhood in Denver — not exactly a hotbed of R&B — through decades productively creating, recording and performing a wide range of music both as a shining star with Earth, Wind & Fire and as a successful solo artist in multiple genres, Philip Bailey has consistently gone to all sorts of interesting musical places."Once you get inside a form of music and understand where it's coming from — its origin and all the people who make it — there's a world of people and sounds out there and music is the perfect chance for exploration. Music allows people to go places that perhaps they'll never be able to travel to. But through the music, you can bring them a different part of the world, a different world of sound. I believe that's part of the reason I am still excited and enamored with the world of music. The fact that I get to explore all these different types of music and experience all of these collaborations keeps my pulse going musically."
As Bailey recalls, "My mother told me that I was singing before I was talking. Music was my first language." Indeed, Bailey has had a love and appreciation for all kinds of music from an extremely early age. He grew up listening to country, to Top Ten radio, to folk music and to jazz, after discovering Miles Davis and John Coltrane in the record collection of his mother's friend.
Millions of music lovers around the world discovered Bailey through his wildly successful work as a core member, writer, musician and the other lead vocalist along with Maurice White in the legendary group, Earth, Wind & Fire, a band of Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees that's never wasted too much time with labels and categories.
The impact of Earth, Wind & Fire has been such that some critics even dubbed the group "The Black Beatles," a reflection of the power of the music the group has made. "Our message is one of love, but also more about being conscious," Bailey says. "We're about trying to wake people up to life and all that's out there. My voice is my instrument — beyond being a percussionist — and you never stop discovering the instrument and learning things through a lifetime, through a journey. I've never looked at putting a period there. It's about moving forward."
That forward-thinking approach to music, and to life itself, has been at the heart of Bailey's solo career that began with 1982's Continuation, and the 1984 platinum follow-up Chinese Wall, produced by Phil Collins and featuring their global smash duet "Easy Lover."
