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

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 ...

. Vaughn has also worked with other preeminent artists such as

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

Patti LaBelle Patricia Louise Holte (born May 24, 1944), known professionally as Patti LaBelle, is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B singer and actress. She has been referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godmother of Soul". LaBelle began ...

Jennifer Holliday Jennifer Yvette Holliday (born October 19, 1960) is an American singer and actress. 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 ...

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 Troo ...

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, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. 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, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

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

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (March 14, 1933 – November 3, 2024) was an American record producer, composer, arranger, conductor, trumpeter, and bandleader. Over the course of his seven-decade career, he received List of awards and nominations re ...

's producer. Vaughn eventually performed as a keyboardist on the Brothers Johnson's 1978 album '' Blam!''. ''Blam'' has been certified

platinum Platinum is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pt and atomic number 78. It is a density, dense, malleable, ductility, ductile, highly unreactive, precious metal, precious, silverish-white transition metal. Its name origina ...

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 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. ...

, 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. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

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 American Record Corporation, ARC/Columbia Records.The album spent 11 weeks atop the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Top R&B/Hip- ...

'' 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 album '' Feel My Soul'' and Earth, Wind & Fire 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 th ...

''. 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, R&B singer, record producer, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and music director. At the 25th Annual Grammy Awards, her 1982 single, "Forget Me Nots", received a no ...

's 1986 album '' Watch Out''. He then collaborated with Earth, Wind & Fire on their 1987 LP ''

Touch the World ''Touch the World'' is the fourteenth studio album by American band Earth, Wind & Fire, released in November 1987 on Columbia Records. The album reached No. 3 on the ''Billboard'' Top R&B Albums chart and No. 33 on the ''Billboard'' Top Pop Albu ...

''. ''Touch the World'' has been certified gold in the US by the RIAA. 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 soul music, soul, funk, R&B, Quiet storm, jazz soul and Urban Contemporary. Originally credited as Vesta Williams ...

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 sing ...

'' and

on their 1988 LP ''

''. ''Troop'' has been certified gold in the US by the RIAA. Vaughn went on to collaborate with Earth, Wind & Fire on their 2003 album '' The Promise'' and

on his 2016 LP ''

Velvet Portraits ''Velvet Portraits'' is a studio album by American musician Terrace Martin. It was released on April 1, 2016 through Sounds Of Crenshaw/Ropeadope Records. Recording sessions took place at Organic Grease Studios, Ameraycan Studios, Village Studios ...

''.

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