Questlove To Direct Earth, Wind & Fire Documentary
Questlove Announced As Director of Earth, Wind & Fire Documentary
Source: Variety / Getty
In his memoir Keep Your Head to the Sky, Earth Wind & Fire founder Maurice White said he envisioned the band as a way to connect to the best of humanity.
“To me, the ideal was just sitting out there in the ether, waiting to be picked up by someone with the courage to take it on. If another spirit had accepted the Creator’s invitation, EW&F would have been different. But I believe it would have existed,” he wrote.
In time, EW&F went on to multi-platinum, award-winning success on the strength of classic hits like “September,” “Reasons,” “Shining Star,” “Fantasy,” “That’s the Way of the World,” and others that promoted love, joy, and positivity. In 2000, the group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and in 2010, they were inducted into the Songwriter’s Hall of Fame. In 2016, the band received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
How it all went down is a story that Questlove is going to tell as he announced late last week that he’ll direct the Earth Wind & Fire documentary with the full support of the surviving original band members and White’s estate. He died of complications from Parkinson’s disease in 2016 at the age of 74.
“Having been baptized in the Afrocentric joy river of this powerhouse unit, I’ve learned about them, I’ve learned about us & more importantly, I’ve learned and rediscovered myself in the process,” Thompson said in a statement. “I’m so excited to be part of the process of preserving their positive but VERY vulnerable and real story of Soul, Self & Struggle.”
Phillip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, and Verdine White, Maurice’s brother and a significant part of the band, issued a joint statement in support of the project.
“We look forward to this in-depth journey of our band, and are so excited to have Questlove directing the documentary,” the statement read.
Questlove is also working on a documentary on Sly and the Family Stone. His first documentary Summer of Soul (…Or When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised) won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature in 2022.
The EW&F documentary is expected to come in 2025.
