W.Va. names road for native musician Bill Withers
Free Press wire reports | 5/27/2021, 6 p.m.
BECKLEY, W.Va. - West Virginia native Bill Withers has been honored with a road named in his honor.
“Bill Withers Memorial Road” is the new name for Slab Fork Road from the Lester Highway to the Coalfields Expressway in Raleigh County, the West Virginia Department of Transportation said.
The musician died March 30, 2020, in Los Angeles at the age of 81. He is best known for writing and recording “Ain’t No Sunshine,” “Lovely Day” and “Lean on Me.” He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.
The state Division of Highways installed a sign last week renaming the road. The move was passed by the West Virginia Legislature last month.
“The uplifting messages in some of his songs really helped us get through the last year we’ve had,” Deputy Secretary of Transportation Jimmy Wriston said in a news release.
