Sheldon Maurice Reynolds (September 13, 1959 – May 23, 2023) was an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was a member of bands

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

The Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

and

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

Career

Born in

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...

, Ohio, Reynolds began playing the guitar when he was eight years old, and by the age of 12 was considered a prodigy. He graduated from the

University of Cincinnati The University of Cincinnati (UC or Cincinnati, informally Cincy) is a public university, public research university in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1819 and had an enrollment of over 53,000 students in 2024, making it the ...

. Reynolds toured with singer Millie Jackson. Reynolds later joined R&B band

, with whom he recorded three albums. During 1983 he became a member of

. With the Commodores he sang on their 1985 LP '' Nightshift'' and then played on their 1986 album '' United''. Altogether he featured with the band for four years. Reynolds then joined

(EWF) in the roles of lead guitarist and co-vocalist. He went on to play on EWF's LPs '' Touch The World'' (1987), '' The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2'' (1988), ''

Heritage Heritage may refer to: History and society * A heritage asset A heritage asset is an item which has value because of its contribution to a nation's society, knowledge and/or culture. Such items are usually physical assets, but some countries also ...

'' (1990), ''

Millennium A millennium () is a period of one thousand years, one hundred decades, or ten centuries, sometimes called a kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...

'' (1993) and '' In The Name of Love'' (1997). With EWF he earned a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

nomination in 1994 in the category of

Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals The Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as th ...

for the song " Sunday Morning". As a member of the band, Reynolds was inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.

Solo work

Reynolds played on

Maurice White Maurice White (December 19, 1941 – February 4, 2016) was an American musician, best known as the founder, leader, main songwriter and chief producer of the band Earth, Wind & Fire, also serving as the band's co-lead singer with Philip Bailey. ...

's 1985 self-titled album and

Philip Bailey Philip James Bailey (born May 8, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and percussionist, best known as an early member and one of the two lead singers (along with group founder Maurice White) of the band Earth, Wind & Fire. Noted for his fo ...

's 1989 LP ''

Family Affair ''Family Affair'' is an American sitcom starring Brian Keith and Sebastian Cabot that aired on CBS from September 12, 1966, to March 4, 1971. The series explored the trials of well-to-do engineer and bachelor Bill Davis (Keith) as he attempt ...

''. He later guested on Barbara Weathers's 1990 self-titled album,

Smokey Robinson William "Smokey" Robinson Jr. (born February 19, 1940) is an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. He was the founder and frontman of the pioneering Motown vocal group the Miracles, for which he ...

's 1990 LP '' Love, Smokey'' and

Joey Lawrence Joseph Lawrence Mignogna III (born April 20, 1976) is an American actor, musician, singer-songwriter, record producer, podcaster, and game show host. He was a child actor in the early 1980s and portrayed Joey Russo in '' Blossom'' and Joe Longo ...

's 1993 self-titled album. Reynolds also performed on 4Him's 1994 LP '' The Ride'' and

Take 6 Take 6 is an American a cappella gospel sextet formed in 1980 on the campus of Oakwood College in Huntsville, Alabama. The group integrates jazz with spiritual and inspirational lyrics. Take 6 has received several Grammy Awards as well as D ...

's 1996 album ''

Brothers A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingl ...

''. Reynolds later appeared on jazz group Urban Knights 1997 LP '' Urban Knights II'' and on Alfonzo Blackwell's 1998 album '' Body of Soul''. Reynolds also featured on

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

's 2008 LP '' Chicago XXXII: Stone of Sisyphus'', Brian Culbertson's 2008 album '' Bringing Back The Funk'' and on Culbertson's 2010 release XII.

Personal life and death

Reynolds was a contributing editor to the magazine ''

Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...

''. He also had a talk show on Twilight Radio. Reynolds had 2 children of his own; Jade Williams (Daughter) and Brice Bates (Son). Reynolds was at one time married to Janie Hendrix, the adopted sister of

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

. Reynolds died on May 23, 2023, at the age of 63.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reynolds, Sheldon 1959 births 2023 deaths 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American guitarists American funk guitarists American male guitarists American rhythm and blues guitarists Musicians from Cincinnati Commodores members Earth, Wind & Fire members Guitarists from Ohio University of Cincinnati alumni 20th-century American male musicians 21st-century American male musicians