William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Slab Fork, West Virginia, and raised in Beckley, West Virginia. Over his 18-year career, he became known for several popular songs, including "Ain't No Sunshine" (1971), "Grandma's Hands" (1971), "Use Me" (1972), "Lean on Me" (1972), "Lovely Day" (1977), and "Just the Two of Us" (1980), which he recorded with Grover Washington Jr. Withers won three Grammy Awards from nine total nominations.

A 2009 documentary film titled Still Bill focused on his life. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015, and the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame in 2025. Two of his songs, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Lean on Me," were added to the Grammy Hall of Fame.

Early life

William Harrison Withers Jr., the youngest of six children, was born on July 4, 1938, in Slab Fork, West Virginia, a small town known for coal mining. His parents were Mattie (née Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. As a child, he developed a stutter and later described having difficulty fitting in with others. His parents divorced when he was three years old, and he was raised by his mother’s family in Beckley, West Virginia. A statue honoring him was unveiled in Beckley in 2025. His father passed away when William was 13 years old.

Career

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Bill Withers joined the United States Navy at the age of 17 and served for nine years. During this time, he became interested in singing and writing songs. He left the Navy in 1965 and moved to Los Angeles in 1967 to begin a music career.

His first song release was "Three Nights and a Morning" in 1967. The song was arranged by Mort Garson and was not noticed at the time. Later, Withers reworked the song and released it as "Harlem."

While working as a mechanical assembler for companies such as Douglas Aircraft Corporation, IBM, and Ford, Withers recorded demo tapes with his own money. He also performed in clubs at night. When his song "Ain't No Sunshine" became popular in 1971, he refused to leave his job because he believed the music industry was unpredictable. He continued to improve his musical skills, including learning how to play the guitar.

In early 1970, Withers' demo tape was reviewed by Clarence Avant, who owned Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned Booker T. Jones, a former Stax Records producer, to make Withers' first album. Originally, four three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album, but due to funding issues, the album was recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. The album, Just As I Am, was released in 1971 and included the singles "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands." Stephen Stills played lead guitar on the album. The album cover showed Withers at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California, holding his lunch box.

In October 1971, Withers received two letters on the same day. The first was from his former employer, Weber Aircraft, which had laid him off earlier in the year. It offered him his job back, which paid $3.50 an hour. The second letter was from Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, inviting Withers to perform "Ain't No Sunshine" on NBC.

The album was successful, and Withers began touring with a band formed from members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for "Ain't No Sunshine" at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972. The song had already sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in September 1971.

During a break from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single "Lean on Me" reached number one on July 8, 1972. It was Withers' second gold single, with confirmed sales over three million. His next single, "Use Me," released in August 1972, became his third million-seller, and the RIAA awarded it a gold disc on October 12, 1972. His performance at Carnegie Hall on October 6, 1972, was recorded and released as the live album Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall on November 30, 1972. In 1974, Withers recorded the album +'Justments.

During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips album I Feel a Song. In October 1974, he performed in concert with James Brown, Etta James, and B.B. King in Zaire, four weeks before the historic Rumble in the Jungle fight between George Foreman and Muhammad Ali. Footage of his performance was included in the 1996 documentary film When We Were Kings and in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power.

Withers once said about Sussex Records, “They weren’t paying me.” He claims he erased an entire album he had recorded for the label in a fit of anger. “I could probably have handled that differently,” he said. Due to a legal dispute with the label, Withers was unable to record for a while.

After Sussex Records closed, Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975. His first album with the label, Making Music, included the single "She's Lonely," which was featured in the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar along with "She Wants to (Get on Down)." Over the next three years, he released one album each year: Naked & Warm (1976), Menagerie (1977; containing the successful "Lovely Day"), and 'Bout Love (1978).

Because of problems with Columbia Records and being unable to get his songs approved for his albums, Withers focused on joint projects from 1977 to 1985, including "Just the Two of Us" with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., which was released in February 1981. The song won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Withers also released "Soul Shadows" with the Crusaders and "In the Name of Love" with Ralph MacDonald, the latter being nominated for a Grammy for vocal performance.

In 1982, Withers was a featured vocalist on the album Dreams in Stone by French singer Michel Berger. This record included one composition co-written and sung by Withers, "Apple Pie," an upbeat disco song about New York City.

In 1985, Withers released Watching You, Watching Me, which featured the Top 40-rated R&B single "Oh, Yeah!" This album ended his business association with Columbia Records. Withers said in interviews that many of the songs approved for the album had been previously rejected, which contributed to an eight-year break between his albums. He also expressed frustration at seeing his record label release an album for Mr. T, an actor, while preventing him, an actual songwriter, from releasing his own. He toured with Jennifer Holliday in 1985 to promote what would be his final studio album.

Withers' dislike for Columbia Records' A&R executives, whom he called "blaxperts," trying to control his sound to sell more albums played a role in his decision to not record or re-sign with a label after 1985. This effectively ended his performing career, though remixes of his previously recorded music were released after his "retirement." Finding musical success later in life than most, at the age of 32, he said he was socialized as a "regular guy" who had a life before the music, so he did not feel an inherent need to keep recording once he fell out of love with the industry. After he left the music industry, he said he did not miss touring and performing live and did not regret leaving music behind.

In 1988, a new version of "Lovely Day" from the 1977 Menagerie album, entitled "Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)" and remixed by Ben Liebrand, was released. The original release had reached number 7 in the UK in early 1978, and the re-release climbed higher to number 4.

At the 30th Annual Grammy Awards in 1988, Withers won the Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song as a songwriter for the re-recording of "Lean on Me" by Club Nouveau. This was Withers' ninth Grammy nomination and third win. Withers contributed two songs to Jimmy Buffett's 2004 release License to Chill. Following the reissues of Still Bill on January 28, 2003, and Just As I Am on March 8, 2005, there was speculation of previously unreleased material being issued as a new album. In 2006, Sony Music gave Withers’ previously unreleased tapes back to him. In 2007, "Lean on Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

At the 56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014, Bill Withers: The Complete Sussex & Columbia Albums Collection, a nine-disc set featuring Withers' eight studio albums as well as his live album Live at Carnegie Hall, received the Grammy Award for Best Historical Album (sharing the award with the Rolling Stones' Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965). The award was presented to Leo Sacks, who produced the collection, and the mastering engineers Mark Wilder, Joseph M. Palmaccio, and Tom Ruff.

In 2005, Withers was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In April 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Stevie Wonder. He described the honor as "an award of attrition" and said: "What few songs I wrote during my brief career, there ain't a genre that somebody didn't record them in. I'm not a virtuoso, but I…"

Legacy

Withers is known for his "smooth" baritone vocals and "rich" soul arrangements. He wrote some of the most popular songs from the 1970s, including "Lean on Me" and "Ain't No Sunshine." "Lean on Me" reached the Hot 100 chart through multiple versions, such as Club Nouveau's 1987 cover, making it one of nine songs to top the chart with different artists. With "Lovely Day," he set a record for the longest sustained note on an American chart hit, holding a high E for 18 seconds.

Editors from The Guardian said Withers' songs are "some of the most beloved in the American songbook," noting that "Ain't No Sunshine" is considered one of the greatest breakup songs, while "Lean on Me" celebrates the power of friendship. Alex Petridis from the same newspaper wrote that Withers "laid pain and paranoia under his deceptively gentle songs" and left music early after exploring gospel, funk, blues, disco, and more. Rolling Stone's Andy Greene said many of his songs "are embedded in the culture" and have been covered many times.

Giovanni Russonello of The New York Times described Withers as "a soulful singer with a gift for writing understated classics," adding that he had an instinct for creating memorable songs and focused on everyday themes like work, family, love, and loss. Billboard called Withers "one of R&B/soul music's most revered singer-songwriters." The magazine's writer, Gail Mitchell, noted that Withers' influence has grown over the years, as many artists have covered, sampled, or cited him as an inspiration.

Questlove, a musician and journalist, called Withers' 1974 album Justments "a diary" that offered a glimpse into his life before reality shows. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys called him "a songwriter's songwriter." Artists like Sade, D'Angelo, Justin Timberlake, John Legend, and Ed Sheeran have named Withers as a musical influence.

Withers' songs have been widely sampled by hip hop and pop artists, including Basehead, Blackstreet, Kendrick Lamar, DMX, Tupac Shakur, Jennifer Lopez, and Aaliyah.

In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Withers at number 106 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. The Library of Congress' National Recording Registry added "Ain't No Sunshine" to its 2024 list of 25 important sound recordings.

In September 2025, Withers was chosen for induction into the National Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame and was inducted in October.

Personal life

Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973 during her time on the sitcom Room 222. They divorced in 1974.

In 1976, Withers married Marcia Johnson. They had two children, Todd and Kori. Marcia took over managing his publishing companies, and his children later became involved as they grew older.

Withers died from heart problems in a Los Angeles hospital on March 30, 2020, at age 81. His family announced his death four days later.

The family statement said:

He was cremated at Forest Lawn – Hollywood Hills Cemetery in its crematory. His ashes were later placed in an unmarked grave.

Discography

• Just as I Am (1971)
• Still Bill (1972)
• +'Justments (1974)
• Making Music (1975)
• Naked & Warm (1976)
• Menagerie (1977)
• 'Bout Love (1978)
• Watching You, Watching Me (1985)

• Live at Carnegie Hall (1973)

• The Best of Bill Withers (1975)
• The Best of Bill Withers (1980)
• Bill Withers' Greatest Hits (1981)
• Lean on Me: The Best of Bill Withers (1994)
• The Best of Bill Withers: Lean on Me (2000)
• The Ultimate Bill Withers Collection (2000)
• Lovely Day: The Very Best of Bill Withers (2005)
• Ain't No Sunshine: The Best of Bill Withers (2008)
• Playlist: The Very Best of Bill Withers (2009)
• The Essential Bill Withers (2013)

Accolades

The Grammy Awards are given by The Recording Academy. Withers has received three Grammy Awards out of nine nominations.

• 2005: Inducted into Songwriters Hall of Fame
• 2006: Received ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage award
• 2007: Inducted into West Virginia Music Hall of Fame
• 2015: Inducted into Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
• 2017: Received honorary degree from West Virginia University
• 2025: Inducted into National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame