Earth, Wind & Fire to play for ‘heartfelt people’ of Hawaii

Many top performers never make it to Hawaii for concerts. Very few make the trek out here to the middle of the Pacific more than a few times in their careers.

Then there are those star acts who apparently relish the trip, seemingly including a visit to the islands nearly every time they tour.

Earth, Wind & Fire falls into the second group, and next week the legendary R&B/funk/pop/jazz/rock/disco band will make its sixth trip to Oahu in the past 15 years.

Fans here are returning that love, as Tuesday night’s show at the Blaisdell Arena is nearly sold out — no surprise given that most of their recent visits have drawn capacity crowds.

Being able to sell out the arena repeatedly makes it an easy decision to keep coming back, but the band members love it, as well.

“It’s always a beautiful experience,” bassist Verdine White said in a phone conversation from his Los Angeles home, saying the Aloha State is full of “good people, heartfelt people.”

White is one of three current members of the band — the others are singer Philip Bailey and percussionist Ralph Johnson — who date back to the early ’70s with the group. White was with the band when his brother, Maurice, founded it in 1971, and Johnson and Bailey (with his breathtaking falsetto providing a counter to Maurice White’s sturdy tenor) joined the following year.

Maurice White died in February after a battle with Parkinson’s disease that lasted nearly three decades. The death of the man he called “my brother, hero and best friend” in a Facebook post the next day hit Verdine White hard.

“It’s a process,” he said of his recovery, adding that he was glad he at least got to be with his brother in his final days.

Due to the illness, Maurice White hadn’t toured with the group since 1994, but he was able to finish his memoir, “My Life With Earth, Wind & Fire,” before dying, and it was released last week.

With their fusion of so many musical genres, in songs such as “That’s the Way of the World,” “Fantasy,” “September” and their No. 1 hit, “Shining Star,” Earth, Wind & Fire, in the words of Rolling Stone magazine, “changed the sound of black pop in the 1970s.”

As a result, they’ve been honored in almost every way possible in modern music, including:

>> Six Grammy Awards, plus a lifetime achievement award.

>> Enshrinement in the Rock and Roll, Songwriters and Vocal Group halls of fame.

>> A star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

White acknowledges the recognition is “meaningful” and says “it’s an honor” to hear his band’s unmistakable influence on so many artists over the past 40 years.

But what keeps Earth, Wind & Fire traveling the world performing with what is currently a 12-piece band is the love they get from the fans. They arrive in Hawaii next week after shows in Japan and Hong Kong, and will hit the U.S. mainland and Canada over the rest of the year on a double bill with fellow ’70s legends Chicago. Amid all that, they saved a spot for Honolulu.

“The fans want us to come, were asking for us,” White said, “and we had a chance to come out. … They respect the music. It resonates with them.

“We bring a lot of energy. It’s going to be a great time,” he promised.