RIP Bill Withers

[Regan MacNeil]

 

[Cosmo]

Such a talented singer. RIP.

 

[Starman]

Google up his speech on YouTube at the Elgin Baylor statue ceremony.
He works everybody from Kobe to Magic to Kareem to Bill Russell to Jerry West into the routine, which tiptoes the line between PG-13 and R. Shaq is laughing so hard he almost falls off his chair.

 

[PCLoadLetter]

Enormously talented man. RIP.

And hoo boy is he getting a free pass on his personal life, at least in the obits I'm seeing.

 

[Webster]

**** — an absolute legend. If you haven’t done so, you must listen to his live album from Carnegie Hall.

 

[micropolitan guy]

"Hey Bill, you know that "Ain't no sunshine" is bad grammar?

"I know, I know, I know, I know, I know, I know."

Too soon?

Saw him with Blood, Sweat and Tears way back in 1971, the first big concert I ever attended.

 

[DanOregon]

Lovely Day may take a back seat to Lean on Me and Ain't No Sunshine - but it's my fave.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

I worked with a guy who saw him and said at the end of the show, the crowd chanted “STILL BILL!!!” until he came out for his encore

 

[Tarheel316]

**** — an absolute legend. If you haven’t done so, you must listen to his live album from Carnegie Hall.

He’s one of the all-time greats.

 

[Jake from State Farm]

Enormously talented man. RIP.

And hoo boy is he getting a free pass on his personal life, at least in the obits I'm seeing.

There were reports he had an abusive relationship when he was married to Room 222’s Denise Nicolas
I was admonished by our music writer for mentioning this, so after an exhaustive google search I found she was right
Every article I saw had Nicolas refusing to confirm or deny the reports, so only Bill and Denise know

 

[da man]

Lovely Day may take a back seat to Lean on Me and Ain't No Sunshine - but it's my fave.

My favorite Bill Withers song isn't quite so uplifting, but it is fantastic.

 

[Webster]

Use Me is just a great song. As is Grandma’s Hands and Who is He (and What is He to You?)

Did a deep dive yesterday, including his BBC special with his band playing very stripped down versions.

This was a great cover from Ed Sheeran on Colbert

 

[Scout]

Google up his speech on YouTube at the Elgin Baylor statue ceremony.
He works everybody from Kobe to Magic to Kareem to Bill Russell to Jerry West into the routine, which tiptoes the line between PG-13 and R. Shaq is laughing so hard he almost falls off his chair.

Shaq was actually sitting in two chairs.
That’s a ****ing big man.

 

[Scout]

 

[Webster]

Great writer of small moments in his lyrics — “She'd say, Matty don't you whip that boy, what you want to spank him for? He didn't drop no apple core, but I don't have Grandma anymore. If I get to heaven I'll look for Grandma's hands“

The reference to spanking and “he didn’t drop no apple core” just sets the entire stage for his childhood and his relationship with his father and his grandmother in three sentences.