Philip Bailey (born May 8, 1951, Denver, Colorado) is an American R&B, soul and funk singer, best known as one of the founding members of Earth, Wind & Fire. He is noted for his four-octave vocal range. Before joining Earth, Wind & Fire in 1971, Bailey was a vocalist for the Phenix Horns.
Bailey found fame singing lead on EW&F songs such as "Devotion," "Head to the Sky," "Reasons," "Shining Star," and "Let's Groove" and though in the latter he sung in tenor, he mostly has sung the EW&F classics in falsetto. He often notes legendary singers Eddie Kendricks of The Temptations and Smokey Robinson as influences and mentors and preceding disco singer Sylvester.
Bailey is currently the on-stage leader of Earth, Wind & Fire, along with bassist Verdine White, vocalist/percussionist Ralph Johnson and vocalist/percussionist B. David Whitworth.
Bailey has also recorded as a solo artist, as well as duets with Phil Collins and Eric Benet. His most notable song was a duet with Phil Collins, "Easy Lover," from his solo album Chinese Wall. Phil Collins, during a radio interview, was asked how "he discovered" Philip Bailey. Annoyed at the lack of knowledge of the interviewer he made up a story about how he had been filling his car with gas/petrol when he heard the attendant singing..and that turned out to be Philip Bailey. The interviewer believed the whole story, which was also picked up by other media outlets.
