Barry White

Barry White was born Barry Eugene Carter in Galveston, Texas,and grew up in the high-crime areas of South Central Los Angeles. White was the oldest of two brothers; his brother Darryl was 13 months younger. He grew up listening to his mother's classical music collection, and first took to the piano emulating what he heard on the records. His introduction to music led to him playing piano on Jesse Belvin's 1956 hit single, "Goodnight My Love."

White recalled that, "[As a child] I had a normal squeaky kid voice. Then as a teenager, that completely changed. My mother cried because she knew her baby boy had become a man."
Gang life and jail sentence

His brother Darryl was murdered in a clash with a rival gang, and White himself was jailed – at the age of 17 – for stealing $30,000 worth of Cadillac tires.

While in jail, White listened to Elvis Presley singing "It's Now or Never" on the radio, an experience he later credited with changing the course of his life.

-Wikipedia