Barry White

An icon of the disco era, Barry White turned a behind the scenes career in the music idustry into a highly succesful career as a performer and hitmaker. Strip away the lush strings and you'll see that White followed in the footsteps of such creamy R&B baritones as Lou Rawls, Isaac Hayes, and even the politically charged Gil Scott Heron. Not really a singer, White used his voice well, employing pillow talk interludes like an amorous Orson Welles doused in Brut 33. Barry White used a heady brew of disco sheen and his bedroom voice to score hit after hit in the '70s. His "Love's Theme" in 1974 pretty much sums up White's mojo, but the hits kept coming until 1979 (perhaps corresponding to the moral backlash against the sexual revolution?). But even chaste monks can't help but be tickled by Barry White, who passed away on July 4, 2003.