Philip Bailey Shines Light on Earth, Wind & Fire

Philip Bailey's imitable falsetto on such rhythm-and-blues classics as "Reasons" and "Fantasy" helped catapult Earth, Wind & Fire into superstardom through the 1970s and early '80s. The group's music epitomized '70s boomer R&B and funk at its most sophisticated, while also attracting a massive multicultural and multigenerational audience. Now, more than 40 years later, Bailey and the Grammy-winning band are still going strong.

In his 2014 memoir, Shining Star: Braving the Elements of Earth, Wind & Fire (cowritten by Keith and Kent Zimmerman), Bailey, 63, shared some of the secrets behind the band's tremendous success, without shying away from how the demands of constant touring and recording nearly took a toll on his personal life.

Q: Why did you decide to write a memoir?

A: I really didn't decide. Actually, I was asked by a publishing agent — Jan Miller. I was touring with David Foster and Friends when she pitched the idea to me. She said that she knew a couple of great cowriters [the Zimmerman brothers] in Northern California that would be great.

Q: What was it like reliving some of the more challenging episodes in your personal and professional life when writing the book?

A: At certain points, it was pretty uncomfortable. We all have things in which we look back and say, "If I had a chance to do it all over again, I wouldn't do certain things." But in the book, I wrote the truth. The thing that I didn't want to do was to just glorify all the highlights. I didn't want just a squeaky-clean book that just illuminated my stardom. For me, that would just be such a waste of time. I wanted my book to reflect real life — the highs and lows.

Q: You wrote about your bitterness with Earth, Wind & Fire after the classic lineup disbanded in 1983. Elaborate on your emotional state during that turbulent time.

A: When the band broke up, we were so shocked and hurt because of the way that it happened. My life was a little different because I had already started my solo career on several different fronts. So I did have some springboard by which to continue my musical vision. But sure enough, for anybody, when your paycheck dries up and you're no longer communicating with people that you had been with for almost every day of your life for 10-plus years, it's very traumatic. You have to understand that we [the band members] went straight from Mama's house to Earth, Wind & Fire within a few years. Many of us turned 21 within Earth, Wind & Fire. So there hadn't been a lot of life lived outside the confines of college and home. It was a wake-up call for many of us; it was like, "OK, and now real life begins."