Sheldon Reynolds (guitarist)


Sheldon Reynolds is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Reynolds is a former member of bands Sun, The Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire.

Career

Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, Reynolds began playing the guitar when he was eight years old, and by the age of 12 was considered a prodigy. He went on to become an alumnus of The University of Cincinnati. Reynolds eventually embarked upon a professional musical career. At first he toured with singer Millie Jackson. Reynolds later joined up with R&B band Sun with whom he recorded three albums. During 1983 he became a member of The Commodores. With the Commodores he sang upon their 1985 LP Nightshift and then played on their 1986 album United. Altogether he featured with the band for four years.
Reynolds then joined up within the roles of lead guitarist and co-vocalist with Earth, Wind, & Fire. He went on to play upon the EWF's LPs Touch The World, The Best of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 2, Heritage, Millennium and In The Name of Love. With EWF he earned a Grammy nomination in 1994 within the category of Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for the song "Sunday Morning". As a member of the band Reynolds was also inducted into the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame.

Solo work

Reynolds played on Maurice White's 1985 self titled album and Philip Bailey's 1989 LP Family Affair. He later guested on Barbara Weathers's 1990 self titled album, Smokey Robinson's 1990 LP Love, Smokey and Joey Lawrence's 1993 self titled album. As well he performed on 4Him's 1994 LP The Ride and Take 6's 1996 album Brothers.
Reynolds later appeared on jazz group Urban Knights 1997 LP Urban Knights II and Alfonzo Blackwell's 1998 album Body of Soul. He also featured on Chicago's 2008 LP, Brian Culbertson's 2008 album Bringing Back The Funk and Culbertson's 2010 release XII.

Personal life

Reynolds is a contributing editor to the magazine Astronomy. He also has a talk show upon Twilight Radio.
He was once married to Janie Hendrix, the adopted sister of Jimi Hendrix.