Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
It’s not warm when she’s away
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
And she’s always gone too long
Anytime she’s goes away

Wonder this time where she’s gone
Wonder if she’s gone to stay
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
And this house just ain’t no home
Anytime she goes away

And I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know, I know, I know, I know
I know, I know
Hey I oughta leave young thing alone
But ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone, woh woh

Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
Only darkness every day
Ain’t no sunshine when she’s gone
And this house just ain’t no home
Anytime she goes away

Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away
Anytime she goes away

About Bill Withers

Bill Withers was born on July 4, 1938, in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia. He was raised in Beckley, a nearby town. William Withers, a miner, was the youngest of six children of Mattie (Galloway), a maid. At the age of thirteen, Withers lost his father. For his mother’s support, Bill worked a variety of odd jobs. When he was seventeen years old, he joined the US Navy and became interested in both singing and songwriting. Upon being discharged from the Navy in 1965, Bill moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. Prior to being signed to Sussex Records in 1970, Withers worked at Boeing making toilet seats and recorded demos on the side at night. It was in 1971 that Bill released his debut album, “Just As I Am.” The song “Ain’t No Sunshine” won a Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song. The marvelously inspirational “Lean on Me,” which reached #1 on the Billboard pop charts on July 8, 1972, was Withers’ biggest hit. In the Billboard pop charts, “Use Me” peaked at #2. During the historic Ali/Frasier fight in Zaire in 1974, Withers performed in concert with James Brown, Etta James, and BB King (the documentary “When We Were Kings” contains footage of Withers in concert). Columbia Records signed Withers in 1975 after he parted ways with Sussex Records. In 1978, “Lovely Day” topped the Billboard pop charts. Bill’s fantastic duet with Grover Washington, Jr., “Just the Two of Us,” was a #2 Billboard pop hit in 1981 and won a Grammy. There have been many artists who have covered his songs, including Michael Jackson, Barbra Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Linda Ronstadt, Joe Cocker, Mick Jagger, Grace Jones, Diana Ross, Club Nouveau (whose cover of “Lean on Me” won the Grammy Award for Best Rhythm & Blues Song in 1988), Morrisey, Paul McCartney, Michael Bolton, Fiona Apple, Sting, Kenny Rogers, and Johnny Mathis.

Awards and Honour

In 2006, Withers received the ASCAP Rhythm & Soul Heritage Award. The Songwriters Hall of Fame inducted him in 2005, and the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame inducted him in 2007. “Hoot,” “Roll Bounce,” “Starsky & Hutch,” “Bandits,” “Exit Wounds,” “Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,” “American Beauty,” “Notting Hill,” “The Bodyguard,” “American Me,” “Lean on Me,” and “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” plus episodes of the TV shows “Entourage,” “LAX,” “Cold Case,” “Keen Eddie,” “Six Feet Under,” “The Wire,” “CSI: Crime Scene Investigations,” “The Simpsons,” and “CSI.”