A two-time Grammy Award winner known for his bass voice and romantic image, his greatest success came in the 1970s as a solo singer and with the Love Unlimited Orchestra, crafting many enduring R&B, soul, funk, and disco songs such as his two biggest hits: "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Babe" and "You're the First, the Last, My Everything".

White recorded 20 studio albums during the course of his career, but multiple versions and compilations were released worldwide that were certified gold, 41 of which also attained platinum status.

[2] His influences included James Cleveland, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Supremes, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye.

White grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection and first took to the piano, emulating what he heard on the records.

White has often been credited with playing piano, at age 11, on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love".

White attended Jacob A. Riis High School, an all-boys academy in southeast Los Angeles.

[17] White had another moment of inspiration on his 18th birthday, which also was the first day back for his graduating year of high school.

He skipped class to walk to Capitol Records headquarters in Hollywood and stood across the street from the office staring for hours.

Seeing the liveliness of the area it inspired him to work in Hollywood, in the entertainment industry, despite not knowing how to read or write music.

[10] After his release from jail, White left gang life and began a musical career at the beginning of the 1960s in singing groups.

[4] He discovered singer Felice Taylor and arranged her song "I Feel Love Comin' On", co-written with his friend Paul Politi.

[9] Other charting hits written by White and Politi for her included "It May Be Winter Outside (But in My Heart It's Spring)" and "Under the Influence of Love".

[24] In 1969, White was signed by Forward Records of Los Angeles, a division of Transcontinental Entertainment Corporation, as a producer.

[25] In 1972, White got his big break producing a girl group he had discovered called Love Unlimited.

His friend Paul Politi told him about music industry businessman Larry Nunes, who helped to finance their album.

White produced, wrote and arranged their classic soul ballad "Walkin' in the Rain with the One I Love", which climbed to No.

White's voice can clearly be heard in this piece as he plays the lover who answers the phone call of the female lead.

With his relationship with Uni over and Love Unlimited contract-bound with the label, White was able to switch both his production deal and the group to 20th Century Records.

However, White had other plans, and in 1973, he released a single with "Love's Theme" (written by him and played by the orchestra), which reached No.

After arguing for days about it, White was finally persuaded to release the songs himself, although he was initially reluctant to step out behind the microphone.

It included the title track and his first solo chart hit, "I'm Gonna Love You Just a Little More Baby",[4] which also rose to No.

After six years, White left 20th Century in 1979 to launch his own label, Unlimited Gold, with CBS/Columbia Records.

After four years, he signed with A&M Records, and with the release of 1987's The Right Night & Barry White, the single entitled "Sho' You Right" made it to the Billboard R&B charts, peaking at No.

He voiced himself on The Simpsons episode "Whacking Day" (1993 (season 4 episode 20))[1] White played the role of a bus driver for a Prodigy commercial in 1995, and he also portrayed the voice of a rabbit in a Good Seasons salad-dressing-mix commercial, singing a song called "You Can't Bottle Love".

White also provided voice-over for Arby's Restaurant commercials on television and radio to promote its Market Fresh menu.

White made three guest appearances on the comedy-drama television series Ally McBeal, as his music was often featured on the show in dream sequences.

[32] After White's death in 2003, his girlfriend Katherine Denton claimed her infant daughter Barriana was his biological child.

[36][37] While undergoing dialysis and awaiting a kidney transplant in May 2003, White suffered a severe stroke, which forced him to retire from public life.

[38] White's unstable health prevented him from receiving a new kidney, and he died on July 4, 2003, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles after suffering cardiac arrest.

[40] On September 20, 2004, White was posthumously inducted into the Dance Music Hall of Fame at a ceremony held in New York.