William Harrison Withers Jr. (July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020) was an American soul and R&B singer and songwriter. Born in Slab Fork, West Virginia, and raised in Beckley, West Virginia, he is known for having several hits over a career spanning 18 years, 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) (recorded in collaboration with Grover Washington Jr.). Withers won three Grammy Awards out of nine total nominations. He largely stopped performing and recording in the mid-1980s, citing burnout and conflicts with record company executives.
His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill. Withers 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 inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
Early life, family and education
William Harrison Withers Jr., the youngest of six children, was born in the small coal mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia, on July 4, 1938. He was the son of Mattie (née Galloway), a maid, and William Withers, a miner. He developed a stutter as a child and later said he had a hard time fitting in. His parents divorced when he was three, and he was raised by his mother's family in nearby Beckley, West Virginia. He was 13 years old when his father died in 1951.
Withers enlisted in the United States Navy at the age of 17 and served for nine years, during which time he became interested in singing and writing songs. He left the Navy in 1965, relocating to Los Angeles in 1967 to start a music career.
His debut release was "Three Nights and a Morning" in 1967. Arranged by Mort Garson, the song went unnoticed at the time but was later reworked by Withers as the track "Harlem."
Withers worked as a mechanical assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, IBM and Ford, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around, and performing in clubs at night. When he hit with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" in 1971, he refused to resign from his job because he believed the music business was a fickle industry. After, he continued to work on his musicianship, learning guitar.
In early 1970, Withers's demo tape was auditioned favorably by Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records. Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned former Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones to produce Withers's first album. Four three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album, but funding caused the album to be recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions. Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" as singles. The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar. On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured 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 a few months earlier. It offered him his mechanic's job, which paid $3.50 an hour. The second letter was from Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show, inviting Withers to sing "Ain't No Sunshine" on NBC.
The album was a success, and Withers began touring with a band assembled from members of the Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band. Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for "Ain't No Sunshine" at the 14th Annual Grammy Awards in 1972. The track had already sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA in September 1971.
During a hiatus from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single, "Lean on Me" went to number one the week of July 8, 1972. It was Withers' second gold single with confirmed sales in excess of three million. His follow-up, "Use Me", released in August 1972, became his third million-seller, with the RIAA gold disc award taking place 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, and in October 1974 performed in concert together with James Brown, Etta James, and B.B. King in Zaire four weeks prior to 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 he is heard on the accompanying soundtrack. Other footage of his performance is included in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power.
Withers has said of Sussex Records "They weren't paying me." He claims to have erased an entire album that he had recorded for the label in a fit of pique. "I could probably have handled that differently," he said. Due to a legal dispute with the Sussex company, Withers was unable to record for some time thereafter.
After Sussex Records folded, Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975. His first album release 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)". During the next three years he released an album each year with Naked & Warm (1976), Menagerie (1977; containing the successful "Lovely Day"), and 'Bout Love (1979).
Because of problems with Columbia and being unable to get songs approved for his album, he decided to focus on joint projects from 1977 to 1985, including "Just the Two of Us," with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., which was released during February 1981. The song won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Withers next 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 came Watching You, Watching Me, which featured the Top 40-rated R&B single "Oh, Yeah!" and ended Withers' business association with Columbia Records. Withers stated in interviews that a lot of the songs approved for the album—in particular, two of the first three singles released—were the same songs that had been rejected in 1982, contributing significantly to the eight-year hiatus between albums. Withers also stated it was frustrating seeing his record label release an album for Mr. T, an actor, when they were 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' disdain for Columbia's A&R executives—or "blaxperts" as he termed them—trying to exert control over his sound to sell more albums played a part in his decision to not record or re-sign with a record label after 1985. This effectively ended his performing career, though remixes of his previously recorded music were released well after his "retirement." Withers said that his finding fame at the relatively mature age of 32 was a benefit, as he had been socialized to accept life as a regular middle-class American and did not feel pressured or obligated to continue his music career after experiencing conflicts with record company executives. After he left the music industry, Withers said that he did not miss touring and performing live and had no regrets about leaving entertainment.
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.