The last sunshine
April 04, 2020

Bill Withers dies at age 81

Legendary soul singer-songwriter Bill Withers, the author behind such enduring hits like 'Ain’t No Sunshine', 'Lean on Me', and 'Lovely Day', died from heart complications on Monday, March 30, at age 81, AP reports. Over the span of eight years, Withers recorded seven studio albums, beginning with 'Just as I Am' in 1971, and his final 'Watching You Watching Me' in 1985, in his brief but influential career. His music was also widely sampled in hip-hop: Famously, Blackstreet and Dr. Dre sampled Withers’ 'Grandma's Hands' for 'No Diggity', and Kanye West sampled 'Rosie' for 'Roses'. Alexis Petridis writes in the obituary about Withers' disdain for the music industry - a reason why he stopped making music, and stuck to his daily job of making airplane toilets.