Philip Bailey

This article is about the musician. For the poet, see Philip James Bailey. For the cricket statistician, see Philip Bailey (statistician). For the Australian rugby league player, see Phil Bailey.

Philip Bailey
Bailey in 2023
Bailey in 2023
Background information
Birth namePhilip James Bailey
Born (1951-05-08) May 8, 1951 (age 73)
Denver, Colorado, U.S.
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • percussion
  • kalimba
Years active1970–present
Labels
Member ofEarth, Wind & Fire
Websitephilipbailey.com
Height1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)

Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his four-octave vocal range and distinctive falsetto register, Bailey was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame as a member of Earth, Wind & Fire.[1][2][3] Bailey was also inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame for his work with the band.[1]

Bailey has released several solo albums, the most notable being Chinese Wall - released in 1984, which earned a Grammy nomination for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male. This LP included the hit single, "Easy Lover", a duet with Phil Collins, which won an MTV Video Music Award for Best Overall Performance in a Video in 1985, was nominated for an American Music Award in the category of Favorite Pop/Rock Video, and earned a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals. Bailey has in all won seven Grammys out of twenty one nominations.[4][5][6]

In May 2008, Bailey was bestowed with a Honorary Doctorate of Music from Berklee College of Music. During the 2008 commencement ceremony at Berklee, he gave the commencement speech.[7] He was later inducted, in November 2017, to the Colorado Music Hall of Fame.[8]

  1. ^ a b "Philip Bailey". songhall.org. Songwriters Hall of Fame.
  2. ^ Moore, Samuel (January 6, 2024). "10 Famous Singers from Colorado". singersroom.
  3. ^ "EARTH, WIND AND FIRE 2003 INDUCTEE". vocalgroup.org. Vocal Group Hall of Fame.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference Grammy was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Pareles, Jon (September 16, 1985). "MTV PRESENTS VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS". The New York Times.
  6. ^ "Philip Bailey & Phil Collins: Easy Lover (Awards)". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Commencement 2008 | Berklee College of Music". college.berklee.edu. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  8. ^ Marshall, Brandon (November 29, 2017). "Colorado Music Hall of Fame Celebrates Jazz Legends". Westword. Retrieved July 1, 2023.