Talk:Barry White

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Systemic high blood pressure per se doesn't cause liver damage. I don't know if BW did indeed have any liver problems, but I can't find any evidence of it in his obituary or on a web-search, so I'm removing it as the likely confusion of liver and kidney. -- Someone else 02:45 5 Jul 2003 (UTC)

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The Ally Mcbeal connection should only be mentioned on the Ally McBeal page, if at all. It seems trite for it to appear here. Vroman 06:55 5 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I suppose it may seem like that. Did it raise his profile though? Wasn't he thought of as a 1970s star who had faded from public view until he featured on that show? Also, I once saw him referred to (affectionately) as the 'walrus of love'. Was that a common nickname? should we mention all the parents who say 'our first child was thanks to Barry White'? -- Tarquin 16:32 5 Jul 2003 (UTC)

If the point of mentioning Ally was that it significantly revived his career or profile, that should be added, otherwise we should go list every car commercial that uses 60s classics on the respective artists' pages, etc. Vroman 19:38 5 Jul 2003 (UTC)

FWIW, I've read two obituaries [1] [2] and both mention Ally McBeal. The former also mentions that his nickname was the Walrus of Love. -- Jim Regan 19:59 5 Jul 2003 (UTC)

If mentioning Ally McBeal is controversial, I suppose a mention of Mark and Lard's "Fat Harry White" parody is out of the question, is it...? :) -- Oliver P. 02:55 6 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I don't see why the Ally McBeal connection is a problem. I watched Ally McBeal from the end of the 1st season (1997) until Gil Bellows' character was killed off around 1999. Part of plotline of the show (as I remember it) was Peter MacNicol's character's obession with Barry White as a tool to have sex. Until I heard the references to Barry White and seeing him on the show made me aware of who he was. Bottom line: it's totally relevent. -- hoshie

I added the original Ally reference because in my mind, that show and the singer are linked. I can't hear his music without thinking about the show (okay, usually his music means sex, but the show is a big memory for me, too!). . . -- Acid_burnd

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I reverted some info on Barry White's genitals and sexual prowess. Dunno if it's true. Tristanb 05:08 7 Jul 2003 (UTC)

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what? no picture? blasphemy! SECProto 02:55, Dec 27, 2004 (UTC)

Vandals, vandals

There are some "vandalisms" on this page. Can you look through it? I don't really know enough about Mr White to check them, I'm afraid Philip Howard 10:40, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

who took away his picture? it should be put back

I noticed this too. He died after suffering from "too much soul"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 96.238.86.201 (talk) 07:03, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

Vandalism now reverted. Ghmyrtle (talk) 08:14, 31 August 2009 (UTC)

I amended the associated acts tab on the right to include The Banana Splits, for whom he wrote music, and it has been retracted for vandalism. Is that right? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.188.154.254 (talk) 14:26, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

My apologies and my mistake. I didn't make the connection and it appeared as vandalism to me when I first saw it. I have replaced your edit back into the article.
⋙–Berean–Hunter—► 14:37, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Thank you! — Preceding unsigned comment added by 212.188.154.254 (talk) 15:01, 14 March 2012 (UTC)

Barry White a vegan?

Is this for real or a joke? I do not know of any vegans that have been troubled by obesity (vegetarians perhaps - all that animal fat i.e. cheese, butter etc), then ended up dying of renal failure (commonly associated with excessive amounts of animal protein in the diet). I have requested the source of this information. nirvana2013 19:02, 28 September 2006 (UTC)

The source of protein is irrelevant. Obesity is due to excessive consumption of food. This has nothing to do with consuming animal fat per se.

OK, I do not intend to get into a discussion about diet. You did not answer my question though - Was he a vegan, and if so what is the source? nirvana2013 00:07, 4 October 2006 (UTC)

No citation given after 11 days, deleted vegan references from article. nirvana2013 01:46, 10 October 2006 (UTC)

If you type in Barry White vegan on google there are plenty of sources aswell as his support for PETA i'm pretty sure he became one in the early 1990's

13:55, 25 July 2007

Here are three sources. Should we add it to the article now?

References

Anna Frodesiak (talk) 19:17, 25 February 2016 (UTC)

1 and 3 are the same and are just hearsay, passing mentions. https://web.archive.org/web/20081211075847/http://sl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/general/environment-turning-middleclass-vegan/1323831.aspx

2 doesn't state whether he was vegetarian or vegan. There must be some source of these claims, maybe in the 1990s he did something for PETA and was a short-time vegan? As far as I have found out, he was not a vegan in his later years, when (and even though) he was severely ill from his diet. He used to eat 'large amounts of fried chicken' in 1998 according to this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyo2oeIm-z4&t=915s RabbitFromMars (talk) 13:22, 16 August 2023 (UTC)

Date of Birth

Has anyone ever looked into why the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) lists his date of birth as June 12, 1943? All the popular websites list him as Sept. 12, 1944. Is the government data wrong and can it be proven wrong? I know the SSDI is not infallible but it is pretty good. Kentucho 05:51, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Can you add a link? Some sort of proof for the June 12th date? As of now, Wikipedia has September 21/1944 as Barry's DOB. Which one is right? Hotwine8 21:53, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

16 years late to the convo but here [3] Oldschoollover24 (talk) 02:23, 6 December 2023 (UTC)

Number of releases

Can someone confirm the "106 gold and 41 platinum albums, 20 gold singles and ten platinum singles" figure and/or replace with a far more realistic number? The idea that over a 30-year career a man could release an average of almost five albums a year is incredibly farfetched. Vintagejonny 23:28, 14 May 2007 (UTC)

Your sentiment doesn't make sense. An album can go platinum four, five, six, seven, X amount of times. LuciferMorgan 01:20, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

These figures should have citations. InnocuousPseudonym 01:42, 22 May 2007 (UTC)

Although I dislike incorrect information Vintagejonny's argument just isn't enough for us to delete the provided statistics, after all Michael Jackson's album "Off The Wall" went gold 7 times. Now imagine if all of Barry White's albums gained the same success, it's not so far fetched now, is it? The idea is possible, and Vintagejonny is nothing more than a troll (who's only apparent intention on Wikipedia is to vandalize the God in Israel page) anyway. 72.152.135.75 (talk) 23:08, 29 May 2008 (UTC)

Unverified

In my opinion, this article needs to be rewritten, the first line for instance, stating that many people can claim to of been conceived to his songs? Pure crap that is, unless I see some sources. Deal with it please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 58.106.106.131 (talk) 07:28, 30 November 2007 (UTC)

Controversy on his death bed / baby claims

A documentary I caught recently, "The Barry White Story" included interviews with his children where they describe his last months, and how his business manager had power of attorney and refused to let his family visit. It also documents how his girlfriend was pregnant with what she claimed was White's child until after his death, when DNA test proved otherwise.

http://www.bullz-eye.com/music_dvd/2007/barry_white.htm briefly describes this.

I was suprised not to find a mention on his wikipedia page.

I was also suprised to find more detail on this page: http://members.chello.nl/p.klein6/Html/barry_white_profile.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tehwa (talk • contribs) 14:04, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

Love Unlimited Orchestra

where is the info about "Love Unlimited Orchestra" ?? you can fill a whole page with..Love Unlimited Orchestra

Someone has. Please sign and date your posts with four tildes (4 x ~). Britmax (talk) 13:23, 15 May 2021 (UTC)

Bias

Considered handsome and deeply romantic by his many female fans and admired for the unique blend of soul and classical orchestral musical elements he created, White was often affectionately referred to as the "Maestro" or "The Man with the Velvet Voice". His portly physical stature led some in the popular press to make condescending jokes about his body weight by referring to White as the "Walrus of Love," a moniker considered disrespectful by many fans. Barry White was also referred to as "The Sultan of Smooth Soul," but it was his role as brainchild of the funk-fueled, deep soul band, the Love Unlimited Orchestra, in which he was widely branded on several early albums as the group's Maestro, earning him the only documented nickname for which he and his musical colleagues were responsible.

This paragraph is obviously biased and unless someone can prove this information is true it should remain deleted. 74.224.50.136 (talk) 06:08, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

Don't Be Baby Lady?

Did he sing that song? I thought it was him but if he didn't who does sing that song?Lasttiger (talk) 04:58, 4 August 2008 (UTC)

You See the Trouble with Me

Shouldn't there be mention of this, especially since the cover topped the UK Singles Chart in 2000? __meco (talk) 14:53, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

The problem is wider than that - all the chart placings in the article relate to the US charts only. Additional text needs to be added on his wider international success, in the UK charts and elsewhere. I also think the article as a whole is a lot shorter than the man deserves. Ghmyrtle (talk) 21:57, 9 September 2009 (UTC)

Family

The article fails to mention his family. His parents, his murdered brother, his wives and children are basic life info, and as such are huge omissions in what is meant to be a biography. Qzm (talk) 21:54, 13 September 2009 (UTC)

Voice Roles

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't Barry White provide a voice-over for a series of Arby's commercials around 2001/2002? WAVY 10 Fan (talk) 16:29, 30 September 2009 (UTC)

He Only Appeared in 2 Simpsons Episodes

Which was "Whacking Day" and " Krusty Gets Kanceled". He did not have several appearences. 24.23.137.159 (talk) 02:11, 26 November 2010 (UTC)

Birth name

The source given here (not sure how reliable it is) states his father as Melvin A. White, his mother as Sadie Marie Carter, and his birth name as Barry Eugene Carter. So, if he did have the "birth name" Carter, and grew up with his mother, when and why did he start using the surname White? Ghmyrtle (talk) 13:01, 28 July 2011 (UTC)

He may have started using the surname sometime in the earlier 1960s. In 1961, he was jailed for stealing $30,000 worth of tires in LA, and since the birth name was now being associated with crime, when he listened to the Elvis song It's Now or Never (which he would later credit for changing his life), he converted from life of crime to a more familiar and permanent life of music and may indeed have acquired the surname. 172.190.128.171 (talk) 17:31, 23 February 2014 (UTC)

Eyes on this article

Who agrees to start on a collab effort and get this article up to standard? Looking to get this to GA. Article looks nasty right now. Kaleidoscopic God (talk) 23:30, 19 February 2015 (UTC)

Biographical details problem

Currently this article is just about his music. There is no mention of his life, his family or the mess he left his second family in when he died. He left his first wife in the 70s then made a life with another woman. But when he died the first wife took everything back because White never left a will to provide for the his second family. The article even mentioned they had him cremated and chucked his ashes in the sea so the second woman and her child could never have anything of him. This article makes no mention of any of this. Likewise the way White never provided for his second family after his death does him no favors either. 81.129.123.72 (talk) 09:45, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Do you have reliable sources for any of that? If you don't, it's just unencyclopedic gossip about someone whose clear and evident notability was to do with his contributions to music. Ghmyrtle (talk) 09:53, 20 December 2015 (UTC)

Voice type

He's listed as a 'bass-baritone', but that seems unsourced. The change that moved him from "bass" to "bass-baritone" had no associated information to justify. The 'bass-baritone' page says it is colloquially a voice that has a sound between bass and baritone, but Barry's trademark is his bass-sounding voice. Also, List_of_basses_in_non-classical_music lists him with 3 citations as a bass. Shouldn't the label be 'bass' if anything? 135.180.82.180 (talk) 23:57, 6 September 2022 (UTC)