Maurice White was born December 19, 1941, in Memphis, the son of a doctor and grandson of a New Orleans honky-tonk pianist, and grew up singing gospel after his family moved to Chicago. Before becoming a bandleader, he worked as a session drummer for the city's storied OKeh and Chess labels, and it was there he first crossed paths with pianist Ramsey Lewis, eventually joining the Ramsey Lewis Trio during its most commercially successful period, playing on albums including Wade in the Water (1966) and Goin' Latin (1967). Ramsey Lewis's own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile.

After touring stints with Santana, Weather Report, and Uriah Heep, White founded Earth, Wind & Fire in Chicago in 1969, taking the band's name from the elements associated with his own astrological sign. The group became known for elaborate, pyrotechnic-heavy stage shows and a sound built around African kalimba textures and jazz-inflected horn arrangements, carrying the band to some of the biggest pop and R&B hits of the 1970s and 1980s.

White returned to his roots in 1974, producing Ramsey Lewis's "Sun Goddess," which topped the jazz albums chart and became one of Lewis's own signature crossover records.

White was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in the late 1980s and retired from touring in 1994, though he remained involved in Earth, Wind & Fire's direction from behind the scenes. He died in his sleep in Los Angeles on February 4, 2016, at age 74, from complications of Parkinson's disease.

White's Chicago session-drummer roots, particularly his years backing Ramsey Lewis, gave him a jazz-funk foundation he carried directly into Earth, Wind & Fire's sound, one of the clearest through-lines this project traces between straight jazz sidework and mainstream commercial crossover success.