Wayne Lee Vaughn is an American producer, keyboardist and arranger best known for his work with the band

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (EW&F or EWF) is an American band whose music spans the genres of jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, big band, Latin, and Afro pop. They are among the best-selling bands of all time, with sales of over 90 million re ...

. Vaughn has also worked with other preeminent artists such as

The Brothers Johnson The Brothers Johnson were an American funk and R&B band consisting of American musicians and brothers George ("Lightnin' Licks") and Louis E. Johnson ("Thunder Thumbs"). They achieved their greatest success from the mid-1970s to early 1980s, ...

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American R&B singer, actress and businesswoman. LaBelle is referred to as the " Godmother of Soul". She began her career in the early 1960s as lead singe ...

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American actress and singer. She started her career on Broadway in musicals such as ''Dreamgirls'' (1981–83), ''Your Arms Too Short to Box with God'' (1980–1981) and later became a su ...

Troop A troop is a military sub-subunit, originally a small formation of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron. In many armies a troop is the equivalent element to the infantry section or platoon. Exceptions are the US Cavalry and the King's Troop Ro ...

and

Terrace Martin Terrace Jamahl Martin (born December 28, 1978) is an American musician, rapper, singer, and record producer. He is perhaps best known for producing records for several prominent artists in the music industry, including Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dog ...

Biography

Wayne Vaughn was born and raised in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. When he was nine years old he started playing the flute at Primary School. At the age of 13 he began playing a piano which his parents had bought for him. After graduating from

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

with a bachelor's degree in Music and Composition in 1976 he met

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

's producer. Vaughn eventually performed as a keyboardist upon

's 1978 album '' Blam!''. Blam has been certified

Platinum Platinum is a chemical element with the symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a dense, malleable, ductile, highly unreactive, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name originates from Spanish , a diminutive of "silver". Platinu ...

in the US by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. During 1978 Vaughn met

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter, and producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, and served as the ...

, the leader of

. Within the next year he collaborated with

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...

on her album '' La Diva'' and

on her album '' It's Alright with Me''. He eventually worked with Earth, Wind & Fire as a producer, composer and keyboardist on their 1981 LP ''

Raise! ''Raise!'' is the eleventh studio album by the American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released on November 14, 1981, by ARC/Columbia Records. The album spent 11 weeks atop the ''Billboard'' Top R&B albums chart and peaked at No. 5 on the ''Billboard'' ...

'' and 1983 album ''

Powerlight ''Powerlight'' is the twelfth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in February 1983 by Columbia Records. The album rose to No. 4 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart and No. 12 on the Billboard 200 chart. ''Powerlight' ...

''. Vaughn later collaborated with

on her 1983

Grammy The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pre ...

nominated album ''

Feel My Soul ''Feel My Soul'' is the debut album by singer Jennifer Holliday, released in October 1983 on Geffen Records. The album reached No. 6 on the '' Billboard'' Top Soul Albums chart and No. 31 on the Top Albums chart. ''Feel My Soul'' was Grammy ...

'' and EWF on their 1983 LP ''

Electric Universe Electric Universe is a psychedelic trance project from Germany formed by Boris Blenn and Michael Dressler in 1991. Their first EP release, ''Solar Energy'', was an instant hit with the underground trance scene and is often credited with putting the ...

''. Vaughn went on to perform on Maurice White's 1985 self titled album and compose on

Patrice Rushen Patrice Louise Rushen (born September 30, 1954) is an American jazz pianist and R&B singer. She is also a composer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. Her 1982 single "Forget Me Nots" received a Grammy Awar ...

's 1986 album '' Watch Out''. He then collaborated with Earth, Wind & Fire on their 1987 LP '' Touch the World''. ''Touch the World'' has been certified

Gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

in the US by the

. Vaughn also worked with

Vesta Williams Mary Vesta Williams (December 1, 1957 – September 22, 2011) was an American singer-songwriter, who performed across genres such as pop, jazz, adult contemporary and R&B. Originally credited as Vesta Williams, she was simply known as Vesta begin ...

on her 1988 album ''

Vesta 4 U ''Vesta 4 U'' is the second studio album by American R&B singer Vesta Williams, released on November 21, 1988 on A&M Records. Commercial performance The album peaked at No. 131 on the ''Billboard'' 200 and 26 on Top R&B Albums chart. Four single ...

'' and

on their 1988 LP ''

''. Troop has been certified

in the US by the

. Vaughn went on to collaborate with Earth, Wind & Fire on their 2003 album '' The Promise'' and

on his 2016

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominated LP, ''

Velvet Portraits ''Velvet Portraits'' is an album by producer and musician Terrace Martin, released on April 1, 2016. In December of that year, the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Album. The album was developed during the production of Kendri ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Wayne Songwriters from California Record producers from California American keyboardists University of California, Los Angeles alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people