Earth, Wind and Fire Pledge Their Socially Distanced ‘Devotion’ on ‘Colbert’

Funk and R&B legends Earth, Wind and Fire shared a socially distanced rendition of their 1974 track “Devotion” as part of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s #PlayAtHome series.

With the many members of Earth, Wind and Fire self-isolating, the performance likely took some high-tech wrangling to patch together, but the results felt seamless and delightful. Frontman Philip Bailey led the way with a staggering vocal performance that found him pushing his falsetto to remarkable heights as he crooned the heartwarming lyrics, “In everyone’s life, there’s a need to be happy/Let the sun shine, a smile your way/Open your heart, feel the touch of devotion/Maybe this song, will help uplift your day.”

Earth, Wind and Fire were supposed to embark on a North American tour with Santana this summer, but those dates are now being rescheduled for 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As of now, the band still has a handful of fall dates on the books, starting with a pair of shows at the Pearl Concert Theater in Las Vegas, November 18th and 20th.

In 2019, Earth, Wind and Fire were among the recipients of the Kennedy Center Honors, along with Linda Ronstadt, Sally Field and others. Bailey also released a new solo album, Love Will Find a Way, last year.