Earth, Wind & Fire's music is universal

[marmar]

Earth, Wind & Fire’s music is universal
Questlove’s new documentary explores the spiritual magic that makes one of pop's biggest bands among its greatest

By Melanie McFarland
Senior Culture Critic
Published June 7, 2026 12:00PM (EDT)




(Salon) here’s an Earth, Wind & Fire song to suit every mood and memory. Hip-hop artist and producer Anderson .Paak associates their music with childhood road trips. R&B singer-songwriter H.E.R. says her dad taught her to play the bass line of “Shining Star.”

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“Fantasy” resulted from his meditations within the pyramids of Giza and his claimed communications with aliens. Whether that happened is debatable; what is not is that “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” also influenced him, manifesting in the lyrics’ repeated invitation to “Take a ride in the sky/On our ship, fantasize.” That message sang me to sleep on many nights, and that story explains why it’s stayed with me all this time — it is a masterpiece of melodic sorcery and science, as one.

Questlove embeds such lessons throughout “Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight Of The World)” to explain precisely why EW&F’s most popular hits have also achieved an expansive timelessness. Some of them are genealogical, the best being mind-blowing moments when the founder of The Roots discovers musical connections right along with us, such as Stevie Wonder revealing that “Shining Star” influenced his composition of “I Wish.”

“That’s mind-blowing,” Questlove says. “I didn’t see it coming.” But now, thanks to this movie, we can hear the link.

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“Earth, Wind & Fire (To Be Celestial vs. That’s The Weight Of The World)” complements “Summer of Soul” in that way by framing that year as a moment when Black empowerment met musical revolution. But White consciously took his message global. ........................(more)

https://www.salon.com/2026/06/07/earth-wind-fires-music-is-universal/