'It's A Once In A Lifetime Occurrence': Earth, Wind & Fire On Keeping The Flame Burning For Five Decades

Emma Newbury

Founding members Phillip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson discuss their first Australian tour in 14 years, the legacy of Maurice White, and their premiering documentary.

Earth, Wind & Fire(Credit: Jabari Jacobs)

Do you remember the night of the 21st of September? Chances are, you can’t remember anything happening in your own life on this date, but you definitely remember where the infamous line comes from.

The titular September, along with hits Boogie Wonderland, Shining Star, and Reasons, to name a few, have cemented themselves throughout history, from as far as origins in Ontario Street, Chicago, to charting spots in over a dozen countries. The band behind it all? None other than Earth, Wind & Fire.

It’s been 14 years since the genre-bending Earth, Wind & Fire brought their groove to Australia, but in the span of their story, a little over a decade is nothing. It’s been 57 years since the flame started burning, and in that time, through the cultural underpinnings of war, pandemics, fashion, and technology, the groove still remains.

And groove we will, as the 12-piece live band make their way back to Australia for this year’s Bluesfest - their second time playing - alongside two arena-sized shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Founding members Verdine White (bass), Philip Bailey (vocals), and Ralph Johnson (drums) call in to speak to The Music about what’s in store.

The band says hello from their respective burrows in Los Angeles. If you didn’t know these guys were musicians, their habitats confirm it - Johnson is set up in a home studio, complete with an old school reel-to-reel tape recorder and newer midi sampler enclosing him on both sides. Meanwhile, Verdine competes for centre stage with an array of shiny certified gold and platinum frames, covering almost every inch of the white wall behind.

“It’s 3 o'clock. 3.30, pardon me. 3.30 in the afternoon,” Johnson states.

It’s been a quiet start to the year for the band, taking the temporary stasis in after the conclusion of a US theatre tour in December.

The band will be back on the road in a month’s time, upgrading to an extensive US arena tour that will take them from the east to the west coast for the next six months. Between warming up at Atlanta’s AWARE Fest in March and bringing Spring to Florida’s Hertz Arena in late April, they’ve managed to squeeze the time in to catch a flight Down Under.

“It's been too long, actually,” White says of their last trek to the Southern Hemisphere, “We have a guitar player from Australia, his name is Serg Dimitrijevic. And he's back that way even now, visiting his folks. But yeah, it's been too long. It's 14 years, right? That's a long time to not go someplace.”

Even longer when you count that there was a 16-year gap between their 2012 performances, and the previous Australian tour of their greatest hits volumes in 96’.

Despite the rarity of International artists making their way to Australia, Bailey affirms, “We know we have fans Down Under. And when we were there, we always had a great time. So, we're looking forward to coming back, making music and making memories. And having great fun with our fans.”

And while they’ve been here multiple times over their decades-spanning run, Johnson confirms that “Usually it's just go, go, go” for the band, not allowing a great deal of time to explore the bush and beach.

“A couple of days at a time to try to see a little more, because you have to go so far,” White admits, although a highlight of his own was playing the iconic landmark, the Sydney Opera House.

“And the people are beautiful down there. You know, your complexion is just amazing. I love that great sunshine you're getting down there,” he adds. Although, we can’t help but wonder if beauties like Margot Robbie and Jacob Elordi have been inflating our impression.

If there’s one thing more picturesque than the complexion of Australians in this piece, it’s the fact that Earth, Wind & Fire are also marking this year with the release of a brand-new biographic picture, hitting streaming services shortly.

A successor of 2001’s Shining Star documentary, the new project updates the Earth, Wind & Fire canon to the present day, following the passing of Maurice White (2016) and core members such as Fred White (2023), Andrew Woolfolk (2022), and Sheldon Reynolds (2023).

Directing this project is none other than musical favourite Questlove, and HBO quickly snatched up the documentary for upcoming release on HBO Max. While Questlove brings a music industry perspective - as well as directing credits on both Summer of Soul and Sly Lives! - Bailey states that it’s the involvement of Kahbran White, son of Maurice, that really grounds the documentary with an insider knowledge.

“It shows in depth, to us, a lot of music. A lot of music that we covered through the whole process,” White adds, before dropping the premiere date at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival in June.

Questlove, a prominent R&B artist in his own right, credits the band as a major force in the evolution of soul, jazz, and disco. “They’ve successfully tricked their audience into positivity by singing affirmations, by seeking a better tomorrow, so that’s what [the documentary is] about,” he said in a statement - and, according to any Earth, Wind & Fire fan, he’s pretty spot on.

Formed in 1969 by figurehead Maurice White, Earth, Wind & Fire combined historic soul with new-age spiritualism, aiming to connect with the new generation of adolescents. The band name itself paid homage to White’s own astrological chart, and the band became known for heavy Egyptian and astrological symbolism, both honouring the legacy of Black innovation and introspective growth.

“We think that Earth, Wind & Fire under Maurice's leadership and vision was just an extraordinary event,” Bailey recalls of the last five-plus decades. Johnson and Bailey were recruited into the band in time for 1972’s third album, Last Days And Time.

“It's a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence. For us to be able to make our dreams come true and to make a positive impact on humanity, to still be going, you know, 50-some years later, it's definitely something that is special.”

Johnson gets sentimental, too: “It's a blessing. It's a real blessing. And we don't ever take it for granted. We really don't.”

Meanwhile, White, the brother of members Fred and Maurice, has been in the band since the very beginning, keeping the groove in the family.

“You’re a baby,” he tells, reflecting on how many generations have been “conceived on this field” since he started ripping basslines. It’s an ironic comment, considering White was only 19 when Earth, Wind & Fire kicked off. It’s been his whole life.

A whole life lived in 21 albums, so far.

Despite their get-go signing with Warner and critical acclaim from their debut self-titled album, it wasn’t until Clive Davis brought the band to Columbia that the ball got rolling.

The line-up recruited younger virtuosos such as Bailey, worked on their live performance and signature style, and, with the release of 1975’s That’s The Way Of The World, Earth, Wind & Fire were making it. Follow-up album Spirit would see the band soar to a #2 debut on the Billboard charts, followed by a platinum record and Grammy nomination. They’d win three Grammy Awards in 1978, the same year they embraced the new genre known as disco.

But while the band have released some longstanding crowd-favourites, it would be trivial to reduce them to their most commercial hits. Constantly deviating from the norm, Earth, Wind & Fire saw an atypically large band hit the mainstream with young audiences, brought spirituality from an Afrocentric perspective, and featured some of the finest musicians trained on a healthy diet of gospel, classical, and jazz education.

Almost all vocals (with the exception of The Emotions on Boogie Wonderland) were done by Maurice and Phillip alone, including Phillip’s remarkable four-octave range and signature falsetto. Verdine White was named number 19 on Rolling Stone’s top 50 bassists of all time. He brought ‘playing in the pocket’ to a new level, utilising his jazz teachings and funk mumblings to make songs such as Shining Star and, combined with Ralph’s tight technical control, provided a groove unheard of in the changing musical landscape of the 1970s. And of course, we can’t forget the magical presence of Maurice White, the backbone of the whole operation.

The band are as relevant as ever today, riding the licks and slaps of the next generation of funk-inspired musicians, to the dance crazes of clubs and raves. The aahs of Beijo (Interlude) is an example of this - a deep cut from 1977’s All ‘N All with just over a minute’s duration that has been immortalised into a series of dance and rap remixes, thanks to Phil’s see-sawing “Beijo’s” over the chorus line.

Meanwhile, the band have also cemented their iconic status through television, ads, games, and major motion pictures. This ranges from a brief stint in movie scoring on 1975’s That’s the Way of the World and 83’s Rock & Rule, to sync deals for their hit songs featured in Seinfeld, Caddyshack, Madagascar, Night at the Museum, Trolls, and Grand Theft Auto, to scrape the surface of the large collection of soundtracks they feature in.

And we can’t forget about their latest cultural takeover - on social media. Millennials to Gen Alpha are shaking tail to Let’s Groove, meanwhile, September had its own meme moment - via a less than great rendition on a primary school-esque recorder.

Johnson grins, “We do the social media thing. You know, we're doing Facebook and Instagram and all that good stuff.”

“So, we're pretty much abreast of what's going on. And our grandkids will show us what's happening on TikTok,” White chimes in. His own granddaughter, Reina, has followed in his footsteps into a music career, as have many of the band’s family.

As for the live experience, unfortunately, the band don’t pop out of spaceships or play bass solos harnessed five feet in the air anymore (an iconic move of Verdine’s in the 70s and 80s). Luckily for fans, though, they still make each concert a multi-sensory experience.

There’s still the glitter-dipped Egyptian-inspired getups, and the spirit of Memphis and Chicago’s finest via their 9-piece band and 3-piece horn section.

On keeping things interesting over years of touring, Bailey admits, “The music is so broad, you can try anything. And the nice thing about having music that's lasted this long, you can really introduce different ideas.

But for the most part, the audience loves to hear those classic hits.”

The band even cameoed in other artists’ live shows, recently having joined the short n’ sweet Sabrina Carpenter on stage at Lollapalooza 2025 for a rendition of Let’s Groove.

“We were the cool guys for being up there with Sabrina Carpenter,” Johnson says.

“We were asked to do that. And we had a lot of fun playing to a whole different generation of fans.”

As the prototypes for what a lasting career can look like, do they have any advice for the next generation of musicians, such as Carpenter?

Johnson continues, “We just wish everybody well that's in this industry, you know, doing their thing.”

“Shoot, man. We're excited for them, watching them do their thing and very happy to still be doing it,” Bailey adds.

They’re still doing it, and they’ve still got it. Moods rise as they reflect on the mammoth year of touring that 2025 was, and they set their sights on what performance magic awaits after that long-haul flight ahead of them.

Condensing 57 years into one sentence, a pragmatic Johnson says it best: “We're looking forward to getting there and striking up the band.”

Earth, Wind & Fire will be touring Australia in April 2026, including a slot at Byron Bay Bluesfest and two headlining shows in Sydney and Melbourne. Tickets to Earth, Wind & Fire’s arena shows are available via Ticketek, Ticketmaster, and on the band’s website. Tickets to Bluesfest are available on the Bluesfest website.