Ep. 16 - BILL WITHERS ("Lean on Me")
b'Pop and R&B legend Bill Withers released nine albums between 1971 and 1985 that included such classic songs as \\u201cLean on Me,\\u201d \\u201cAin\\u2019t No Sunshine,\\u201d \\u201cGrandma\\u2019s Hands,\\u201d \\u201cUse Me,\\u201d \\u201cLovely Day,\\u201d and \\u201cJust the Two of Us.\\u201d Though he stepped away from the limelight in the mid-1980s, his songs have become classics that have withstood the test of time and been covered by iconic artists including Aretha Franklin, Michael Jackson, Gladys Knight, Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Paul McCartney, Ike & Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson, Al Green, The Staple Singers, Diana Ross, Neil Diamond, Sting, Linda Ronstadt, Roberta Flack, Buddy Guy, Barbra Streisand, and George Benson. Additionally, his music has been sampled by Jay-Z, Dr. Dre, L.L. Cool J, Tupac Shakur, R. Kelly, and Kanye West. Withers was in the inaugural class of the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame, and is a nine-time Grammy nominee. He won three Grammy awards for Best R&B song for \\u201cAin\\u2019t No Sunshine\\u201d in 1971, \\u201cJust the Two of Us\\u201d in 1981, and the Club Nouveau cover of \\u201cLean on Me\\u201d in 1987. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.'