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. Withers worked as a mechanical assembler for several different companies, including
Douglas Aircraft Corporation,
IBM and
Ford, On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured at his job at
Weber Aircraft in
Burbank, California, holding his
lunch box. 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. 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.
Columbia Records 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'' (1978). 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. 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 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. At the
30th Annual Grammy Awards in 1988, Withers won the
Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song as songwriter for the re-recording of "Lean on Me" by
Club Nouveau. This was Withers' ninth Grammy nomination and third win. In 2006,
Sony Music gave Withers’ previously unreleased tapes back to him. In 2007, "Lean on Me" was inducted into the
Grammy Hall of Fame. At the
56th Annual Grammy Awards in 2014,
Bill Withers: The Complete Sussex & Columbia Albums Collection, a nine-disc set featuring Withers' eight studio albums as well as his live album
Live at Carnegie Hall, received the
Grammy Award for Best Historical Album (sharing the award with the Rolling Stones'
Charlie Is My Darling – Ireland 1965). The award was presented to Leo Sacks, who produced the collection, and the mastering engineers Mark Wilder, Joseph M. Palmaccio, and Tom Ruff. in 2015 In 2005, Withers was inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of Fame. Later that year, a tribute concert in his honor was held at Carnegie Hall featuring
Aloe Blacc,
Ed Sheeran,
Dr. John,
Michael McDonald, and
Anthony Hamilton. The concert recreated Withers' 1973 concert album,
Live at Carnegie Hall, along with some of his other material. Withers was in attendance and spoke briefly onstage. In February 2017, he made an appearance on
Joy Reid's
MSNBC show to talk about the refugee crisis as well as the political climate in America.
Still Bill documentary The 2009 documentary, "Still Bill", explored his reasons for quitting the music industry and painted the picture of a fulfilled musician and human being.
Roger Ebert said: "[Withers] still lives and survives as a happy man.
Still Bill is about a man who topped the charts, walked away from it all in 1985 and is pleased that he did." ==Legacy==