Our musical heroes are leaving us. Maurice White was one of mine. As the leader of the group I grew up loving—that would be Earth, Wind & Fire—he as leader and his band as instrument were a powerful force in R&B for years. Those years coincided with the time that I found and became passionate about the group.

If he had done nothing more than play drums behind Ramsey Lewis and lots of artists at Chess Records back in the 60s, his name would be well known. But the fact that he founded Earth, Wind & Fire and guided them to superstardom and sales of over 90 million records made him a legend. White passed in his sleep early this morning at the age of 74. He had been battling Parkinson’s disease for over two decades, the progression of which forced him from touring with the band back in…