Barry White was born Barry Eugene Carter on September 12, 1944 in Galveston, Texas. He grew up in Los Angeles with his mother, who raised Barry and his younger brother, Darryl. Recalling his childhood, White says that while the family struggled financially, there was always plenty of love and music around.

“Growing up, my mother did the best she could with what she had to work with. It was my mother, my brother and myself, and we didn’t have a lot of money, we didn’t have cars, we didn’t have things that people normally look upon as being successful, but we had a lot of love,” he said in an interview.