"Phil Bailey was born in Denver, Colorado on May 8, 1951. Raised in a city that, especially at the time, was lacking a thriving music scene, it was difficult for a young boy in the '50s and '60s to find the inspiration that he was looking for to pursue his musical ambitions. He found an outlet through a friend of his mother, who had an extensive jazz album collection. Eagerly pursuing whatever outlet for his music that he could find, Phil Bailey was eager to get himself more exposure in the music world.He spent his college years playing gigs and working on his musical skills, and he proved that he was not afraid of hard work. During those early years he would occasionally work gigs from late at night to early the next morning, spanning periods of time as long as nine hours. He created a sound for himself in that time that was incredibly unique, a strong falsetto that could blow the roof off of any club he sang in.By 1971 he had completed his first two years of college in Denver, moved to LA and made his first appearance as one of the front vocalists for the band Earth, Wind and Fire. The band became a Platinum selling sensation and chart-topping group - by 1982 they had won six Grammy Awards. They seemed to be unbeatable. Phil Bailey signed a solo deal with Columbia following the group's sixth Grammy Award. His solo career also proved to be an excellent one. His first album Continuation hit the charts strong. But it was Chinese Wall, his 1984 release, that really got the ball rolling. The sixth track on the album ""Easy Lover"" was a duet with Phil Collins, which topped out the charts and went gold."
