Photo: Columbia Records / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Bill Withers is one of those artists who makes you feel like he lived ten more lifetimes than most people, and yet he only released records for about eighteen years before quietly walking away from the industry in the mid-1980s — on his own terms, which honestly makes him cooler. He came up from Slab Fork, West Virginia, worked as an assembly line worker at an aircraft parts factory well into his thirties, and then just showed up with "Ain't No Sunshine" and blew everyone away. Songs like "Lean on Me" and "Lovely Day" feel less like pop hits and more like things your grandmother would have stitched into a sampler — they're that timeless. Getting into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015 felt overdue, but then Bill never seemed to care much about that kind of validation, which is exactly why his music still hits so hard.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Bill Withers
- Name (Japanese)
- ビル・ウィザース
- Reading
- びる・うぃざーす
- Born
- July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Cancer / Tiger
- Origin
- Slab Fork, West Virginia, United States
- Occupation
- singer / singer-songwriter / composer / guitarist
2. Background
Awards & achievements
- 2015 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Bill Withers born?
July 4, 1938 – March 30, 2020.
Where is Bill Withers from?
Bill Withers is from Slab Fork, West Virginia, United States.
What does Bill Withers do?
Bill Withers works as singer, singer-songwriter, composer, guitarist.
Singer — see all → · Singer-songwriter — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.