On the most famous date in pop music, Chicago’s greatest groove finally got its flowers. A GRAMMY Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire Live: The 21st Night of September aired last night, Sunday, Sept. 21 (8–10 p.m. ET/PT) on CBS and on Paramount+, bringing Stevie Wonder, Janelle Monáe, Jon Batiste, the Jonas Brothers and the LA Phil together at the Hollywood Bowl to celebrate the legendary band that turned joy into a global language.
Why this tribute hits different in Chicago
Earth, Wind & Fire isn’t just a Hall of Fame band; they’re a South Side origin story that went worldwide. Maurice White, a Chess Records drummer and Ramsey Lewis Trio alum, stitched Chicago’s musical DNA, jazz chops, R&B soul, gospel lift, and horn-band precision into a dazzling fusion with African rhythms and kalimba textures.
With brother Verdine White on bass and a powerhouse family of collaborators, Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson, Al McKay, Larry Dunn, Andrew Woolfolk, Johnny Graham, and more, EWF reimagined Black pop with sky-high harmonies, precision horns, and stagecraft that felt like a big-top miracle.
The milestones are stacked: six GRAMMY wins (plus a Lifetime Achievement Award), Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction, Kennedy Center Honors, and enough gold and platinum to plate a spaceship. Yet for Chicagoans, the legacy is intimate—club dates, studio takes at Chess, and a hometown belief that genre lines are there to be crossed.
The sound that changed the room
EWF’s secret sauce has always been contrast and lift: Bailey’s falsetto vs. Maurice’s tenor, the Phenix Horns punching through the mix, kalimba patterns dancing underneath tight rhythm parts, and lyrics that deliver uplift without losing sophistication. From the early 1970s on, they made positivity kinetic: Shining Star, Fantasy, That’s the Way of the World, Let’s Groove, songs engineered to move bodies and spirits in equal measure.
What to watch for in the special
Backed by the LA Philharmonic, guest artists leaned into the band’s melodic richness and horn-forward arrangements. Expect orchestral swells where you’re used to clavinet stabs and some new colors on familiar anthems. It’s less imitation than translation: how contemporary stars carry EWF’s optimism into 2025.
Full set list
- Shining Star
- Sing a Song
- Got to Get You Into My Life (The Beatles’ cover, EWF made their own)
- Devotion
- Janelle Monáe – That’s the Way of the World (performed outside the Bowl in a companion segment)
- Instrumental Interlude
- Stevie Wonder – September
- Boogie Wonderland
- Serpentine Fire
- Bass Solo
- Jon Batiste – Can’t Hide Love
- After the Love Has Gone (the David Foster–penned classic)
- That’s the Way of the World
- Reasons
- Jonas Brothers – Shining Star
- Philharmonic Interlude
- Fantasy
- Let’s Groove
- September (reprise, you know it’s coming)
Why the 21st still matters
Though founder Maurice White passed away in 2016, Earth, Wind & Fire has carried the flame with vigor. Under the onstage leadership of Philip Bailey, Verdine White, and Ralph Johnson, the band’s touring unit remains razor-tight, the harmonies airborne, and the horn hits as exacting as ever—proof that the Chicago vision Maurice built still moves the world.
“Ba-dee-ya” isn’t just a hook; it’s communal memory. That three-syllable smile has scored weddings, homecomings, parades, championship runs, and, yes, countless Chicago block parties. On Sept. 21, the country gets to feel what this city has known for five decades: Earth, Wind & Fire didn’t simply make hits; they engineered happiness.
And on a night built around a Chicago band’s most Chicago lyric, we’ll be right there—counting down to that last horn stab, singing it like it’s ours because it is.
The Grammy Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire is currently streaming on Paramount+. Push the couches back and stand up and watch.
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