Barry White Biography. Say the name Barry White and you”d be hard to follow it with the name of any other recording artist with such a huge, cross-sectional following.

He was at home appearing on Soul Train, guesting with a full band on The Today Show, and appearing in cartoon form in various episodes of The #Simpsons. While there was a period when Barry White wasn”t releasing records or making the pop charts, he did stay active touring and appearing on artists” records, including on Quincy Jones” “The Secret (The Seduction Suite),” Regina Belle”s “Quiet Time,” and rap star Big Daddy Kane”s “All of Me.” It”s surprising to find out that such an illustrious career almost didn”t happen because White #wasn”t interested in being a recording artist.

Born in Galveston, Texas, Barry White grew up singing gospel songs with his mother and taught himself to play piano. He made his first record when he was 16 with a group called the Upfronts. The song was called “Little Girl” and released on a local L.A. label. Later he worked for various independent labels around Los Angeles, landing an A&R with Bob Keane, the man responsible for the first pop recordings by Sam Cooke. One of his labels, Mustang, was hot at the time with a group called the Bobby Fuller in 1966. White was hired for 40 dollars a week to do A&R for Keane”s family of labels: Del-Fi, Mustang, and Bronco. White flirted with the idea of being a recording artist, making a record for Bronco called “All in the Run of a Day.” But he chose to stick with his A&R #duties. One of the first groups he worked with was the Versatiles, who later changed their name to the 5th Dimension. White”s first big hit came from an artist familiar to dancefloor denizens — Viola Wills, whose “Lost the Love of My Guy” went Top 20 R&B. His salary went up to 60 dollars a week. White started working with the Bobby Fuller Four. Keane and Larry Nunes — who later became White”s spiritual advisor and true friend — wanted to cut a female act. White had heard about a singer named Felice Taylor, and together they had three hit records: “It May Be Winter Outside,” “I”m Under the Influence of Love,” and “I Feel Love Coming On.” They were huge hits in England, and White started making 400 dollars a week.