Earth, Wind & Fire – “Shining Star”. Maurice: The song “Shining Star” was born out of a hook Larry Dunn was working on. I delivered some vocal rhythms, and Larry put chords under it, working out the harmonic and chordal structure. The title and theme came out of a walk Philip and I had in the Colorado woods late one night.
While it’s Earth, Wind & Fire that performs the song, the original idea for “Shining Star” came from a songwriter Leon Sylvers, and his partner, Calvin A. Broadus. Leon Sylvers was a member of an R&B group called The Sylvers and in 1974, he pitched the song to Maurice White and Verdine White (two members of Earth, Wind & Fire).
And since we're on the topic of singles released from That's The Way of the World, next up is "Shining Star," which was Earth, Wind, & Fire's first single to top both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard Hot Soul Songs Chart. Produced by Maurice White and composed by White, Larry Dunn, and Philip Bailey, if the intro alone doesn't make you SUPPORT THE REFLEX: VLBov. 402 12 151 277 300 399 201 146 216