Ware was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, United States.[1] His mother was a minister[2] and a pianist for their local Baptist church[3] and his father worked for Ford Motor Co. on the assembly line.[3] Ware was the youngest of ten siblings.[3] He was blind for two years after he had an accident with a slingshot when he was five years old.[3] Despite being only blind in the right eye, his left eye was covered as well.[3] Ware said that, "They [presumably his family] worried that if my left eye wasn’t covered, it would be too strong if my right eye regained its vision." Subsequently, he was sent to the Michigan School for the Blind.[2] In his teens, he was a key member of a vocal group, the Romeos, with Lamont Dozier and Ty Hunter (later of the Originals).[4]
In 1974, Quincy Jones booked Ware as songwriter and performer for two songs on Jones' Body Heat album.[11] The song "If I Ever Lose This Heaven" hit the R&B chart in September of that year[12] and was covered by the Average White Band.[11] Ware had worked with Minnie Riperton on Jones' album, and they collaborated again on Riperton's album Adventures in Paradise,[11] composing Riperton's R&B hit, "Inside My Love," and the two collaborated yet again on Ware's second album, Musical Massage.[13] Ware and Ross worked on demos for Ware's second album, this one to be issued on Motown and also for Ross to win a deal.[7] One of the demo recordings, "I Want You," was heard by Berry Gordy, who decided the song would be a good fit for Marvin Gaye.[7] Gaye heard the other demos and decided to record much of it on what would be his next album, I Want You.[7] Buoyed by the number-one title track, the album peaked at number-one on the R&B chart and it reached the Top Ten of the Billboard 200 and sold over a million copies.[14]
Recording, songwriting, producing, and later career: 1976–2010s
Having given away the material for his album, Ware began again on a solo effort for Motown's Gordy label. The result would become his second album, Musical Massage, released in September 1976.[7] The album was a commercial failure due to poor promotion.[11] However, it became a cult hit among soul music fans that were intrigued by Gaye's I Want You album and the songs from Ware himself.[15] After his brief stint as a recording artist at Motown, Ware decided to focus on writing and producing for other artists, and he wouldn't release another album until 1979.[11] He finally achieved chart success when he released his third album, Inside Is Love, via Fabulous Records in 1979. It reached the charts along with its single, "What's Your Name," establishing him as a recording artist for the first time.[11] After recording for Fabulous Records, Ware signed with Elektra Records,[11][16] and he released his fourth album in 1981, titled Rockin' You Eternally,[17] which spawned two R&B singles chart entries, "Baby Don't Stop Me" and the title song, but the album itself did not reach the charts.[11] Elektra financed a follow-up, and Ware's fifth album, Leon Ware, was released in 1982.[11][18] Unfortunately for Ware, the label dropped him when the album failed to sell many copies.[11] In 1987, he signed with Slingshot Records and released his sixth album, Undercover.[11]
In the 1990s, his earlier work became a source of samples in hip-hop music.[11][20] William Ruhlmann of AllMusic wrote, "Such success didn't increase Ware's exposure as an artist, but it substantially increased his publishing income. At the same time, he was being discovered as a soul music progenitor, particularly in England, where the Expansion label began reissuing his solo albums."[11] Ware then released his seventh album, Taste the Love, on his own Kitchen Records label in 1995 to help his cause.[11] He also contributed to singer Maxwell's 1996 debut album Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite by co-writing "Sumthin' Sumthin'." The album is considered one of the landmark albums of the neo-soul genre.[20]
Throughout the 2000s, Ware continued to release several albums, which are Candlelight (2001), Love's Drippin' (2003), Deeper (2004), A Kiss in the Sand (2004), and Moon Ride (2008).
Ware was married four times.[22] His second wife was Susaye Greene,[22] whom he married in 1974 and would later divorce in the same year.[2][22] He was married to Carol Ware from 1980 until his death.[1] Their wedding took place on September 5, 1980 in Malibu, California.[23]
Illness and death
As of 2009, Ware was recovering from treatment for prostate cancer, and credited his friend and fellow songwriter Adrienne Anderson with directing him to appropriate medical care.[24] He died in Marina del Rey, California, on February 23, 2017, from complications of prostate cancer. He was 77.[1][25] At the time of his death, he was survived by his wife, his sons, his granddaughter, and his brothers.[1]
