It took Earth, Wind & Fire six studio albums before they became mainstays on the pop charts. However, the genre-blending funk group's longstanding influence suggests that they've been opening minds and writing inspiring music since their self-titled debut in 1971.

Earth, Wind & Fire's legacy is now cemented with multi-platinum albums and six GRAMMYs, but just as important is the cultural impact they left on the generations of artists that followed them. Founding member Maurice White introduced the kalimba, a Zimbabwean finger-plucking instrument, to mainstream audiences, while their seamless blend of soul, funk, R&B, and jazz — particularly on breakout album That's The Way Of The World — paved the way for future crossover success from Black artists. 

EWF's contemporaries in the 1970s and 1980s were showering them with praise and incorporating elements of the group's sound and style into their own work. Even when it's not explicitly stated, moments like the look of the Jacksons' 1984 album, Victory, and its subsequent tour seemed to draw directly from the sequin-heavy, futuristic and eccentric costumes and large-than-life performances of Earth, Wind & Fire. Miles Davis once called EWF his "all-time favorite band," which Maurice White said there was no greater honor than that in his book My Life With Earth, Wind & Fire. Isaac Hayes, Quincy Jones, Dionne Warwick, and Stevie Wonder have all praised the group's impact on popular music and their work.

Then came the hip-hop generation who discovered Earth, Wind & Fire records in their parent's record collections. According to Whosampled.com, their most popular sample isn't even a famous single, but a minute and twenty-one second interlude from All 'N All called "Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo Interlude)." The rhythmic barbershop vocals and percussion have been sampled in over 100 hip-hop and R&B songs by artists like Big Pun, the Black Eyed Peas, Eazy-E, Mary J. Blige, Madlib, and the Fugees. (The clip has also been a staple for house and disco DJs through edits and remixes by DJs like Danny Krivit, who extended the groove by looping the rhythm section for a more satisfying burn on the dance floor.)

More recently, EWF's iconic hit "September" took on new life in 2016 thanks to actor and TV writer Demi Adejuyigbe's viral videos dedicated to honoring the 21st day in September. For six years, his meme-worthy annual "September" videos garnered millions of views and raised thousands of dollars for charity. And just this year, pop music's newest queen Sabrina Carpenter gave the group their flowers during her headlining set at Lollapalooza in Chicago, bringing out the hometown heroes to perform "September" and "Let's Groove" with her. 

Coincidentally, on this September 21, Earth, Wind and Fire will be the subject of a television special titled "A GRAMMY Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire Live: The 21st Night of September" from 8-10 p.m. (ET/PT) on CBS and Paramount+. Filmed at the Hollywood Bowl with the L.A. Philharmonic, "A GRAMMY Salute to Earth, Wind & Fire Live" will honor the group's cultural impact and timeless sound with hit songs and special guests; Stevie Wonder, the Jonas Brothers, Jon Batiste, and Janelle Monáe are among the artists who will join in the celebration.

Ahead of the special, check out five acts — Monáe included — who have paid respect to the group's everlasting legacy through their own artistry.

Janelle Monáe

In a 2011 interview with Rhapsody.com, Janelle Monáe shared that growing up, the only 8-track albums she and her sister wanted to hear in her father's car were the Earth, Wind & Fire ones. "They left a lasting impression in my mind of what funk music represented," she said.

It's easy to see the Afrofuturist lineage in placing the Egyptian futurism of EWF album covers alongside Monáe's 2010 breakout album, The ArchAndroid. Her sound moved closer to EWF influences on "It's Code" and "Ghetto Woman" from 2013's Electric Lady. However, it's her 2023 LP, The Age of Pleasure, where the free-spirit singer directly tapped into her idols' energy. 

As Monae told Rolling Stone, she was thinking about the Maurice White quote "If it ain't no beauty, make some beauty" while recording The Age of Pleasure. Much like EWF pushed Black consciousness and ancestral spirituality in the 1970s through infectious funk and a triumphant brass section, Monáe's GRAMMY-nominated album opened that same consciousness chakra to a Pan African diaspora and pro-LGBTQIA+ community.

Outkast

In 2003, following the release of Outkast's epic double album Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, André 3000 referenced Earth, Wind & Fire while musing about the mystical nature of certain album artwork: "You looked at album covers and they was like, 'Damn! Look at that picture of Earth Wind & Fire.' It's like, aw, man! That's amazing. They must be magic or something."

If there's one group who came close to the visual aura of EWF, it was undoubtedly Outkast. Whether it was the zodiac mash-up of Aquemini, which paired a bohemian with a lowriding pimp, or the expansive experimentalism of Stankonia that sought to treat rave, gospel, twangy funk, and psychedelia as a unified groove, Outkast honored EWF with their fearless spirit. But, if there's one song that exemplifies their admiration for EWF, it's "The Way You Move" featuring Sleepy Brown. 

With its horn accompaniment and Sleepy's Philip Bailey-esque falsetto chorus, the single off Big Boi's Speakerboxxx rose to ubiquitous, EWF-esque levels of mainstream success. The connection was confirmed when Earth, Wind & Fire shared the stage with Outkast and Sleepy Brown for a performance of the single at the 2004 GRAMMYs, the same night that Outkast made history as the first rap album to ever win Album Of The Year.

Pharrell Williams

In a feature on the soundtrack to his life, Pharrell Williams told The Guardian that he was "raised on Earth, Wind & Fire" — going on to credit "Can't Hide My Love" as the song that "made me a singer."

Knowing that, it's hard not to hear Williams' signature falsetto as his take on Philip Bailey. And while some of his biggest, most EWF-esque singles with Daft Punk were made with another 1970s disco legend in Nile Rodgers, Daft Punk provides a bit of Earth, Wind & Fire in songs like "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself To Dance." 

Williams' role as a producer has also incorporated the group's influence. N.E.R.D. productions that feature orchestral flourishes, like "Bobby James" and "Run To The Sun," feel like direct descendents of Charles Stepney-era Earth, Wind & Fire.

Phil Collins

By the 1980s, Phil Collins was exclusively known for the prog-rock stylings of Genesis — in turn, few understood or expected Collins' experimental proclivity would produce an R&B- and jazz-influenced pop album. But, Collins was a big admirer of experimental Black musicians who would still create infectious grooves like Weather Report and Earth, Wind & Fire. 

Rather than imitating his admiration for EWF's horn section, The Phenix Horns, he hired them to accompany him on six songs for his 1981 solo debut, Face Value. While recording in Los Angeles, he'd been developing a pop-friendly crossover sound that pulled more from R&B and world beat that fit squarely in the Phenix Horns' comfort zone. 

Collins' continued to draw from EWF when he returned to Genesis, once again enlisting the Phenix Horns for "No Reply At All" on the album Abacab, which was released just seven months after Face Value. In 1984, he recorded "Easy Lover" with Philip Bailey for the EWF singer's third solo album, Chinese Wall, while EWF drummer Fred White appeared on Collins' 1990 live album, Serious Hits… Live!

A Tribe Called Quest

In a 2013 interview with Red Bull Music Academy, Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest shared that when he was recording their debut album, 1990's A People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, his thought process was to "to make something as close to like the Beatles, or Earth, Wind & Fire, or Sly [Stone] as possible for hip-hop." Which is why it's no surprise that he looped a segment of Maurice White's signature scatting lyrics from "Brazilian Rhyme (Beijo Interlude)" for the Tribe song "Mr. Muhammed."

While the quartet didn't sample EWF much beyond "Mr. Muhammed," their eclectic and adventurous sound that blended disco, funk, soul, and jazz into a groundbreaking new style for hip-hop — mixed with open-minded lyrics — makes A Tribe Called Quest descendents of EWF. In fact, after Maurice White passed away in 2016, Q-Tip revealed that "Tribe was meant to be hip-hop's equivalent" to Earth, Wind & Fire during a tribute episode of his Apple Music radio show, "Abstract Radio." In a Facebook post promoting the episode, Q-Tip wrote the simple dedication to "My hero, the master, the maestro."