He joined the Navy at 17 and spent nine years in the service as an aircraft mechanic installing toilets. After his parents divorced when he was 3, Withers was raised by his mother’s family in nearby Beckley. Withers, who overcame a childhood stutter, was born the last of six children in the coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. “Bill Withers is the closest thing black people have to a Bruce Springsteen.” “He’s the last African American Everyman,” musician and bandleader Questlove told Rolling Stone in 2015. “Ain’t No Sunshine” and “Lean on Me” are among Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. “Lean on Me,” a paean to friendship, was performed at the inaugurations of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. They have powerful melodies and perfect grooves melded with a smooth voice that conveys honesty and complex emotions without vocal acrobatics. Withers’ songs during his brief career have become the soundtracks of countless engagements, weddings and backyard parties. In this difficult time, we pray his music offers comfort and entertainment as fans hold tight to loved ones.” “As private a life as he lived close to intimate family and friends, his music forever belongs to the world. A solitary man with a heart driven to connect to the world at large, with his poetry and music, he spoke honestly to people and connected them to each other,” the family statement read. “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved, devoted husband and father.
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