36 Facts About Billy Paul

Paul Williams, known professionally as Billy Paul, was an American soul singer, known for his 1972 No 1 single "Me and Mrs Jones".

Billy Paul was one of the many artists associated with the Philadelphia soul sound created by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, and Thom Bell.

Billy Paul began his singing career at the age of 11, appearing on local radio station WPEN, then owned by the local Philadelphia Bulletin newspaper.

Billy Paul attended the West Philadelphia Music School and the Granoff School of Music for formal vocal training.

Billy Paul's popularity grew and led to appearances in clubs and at college campuses nationally.

Billy Paul changed his name from Paul Williams to Billy Paul so as to avoid any confusion with other artists such as songwriter Paul Williams and saxophonist Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams.

Billy Paul took me up to the Apollo and I warmed the Apollo for six weeks and that's where he gave me the name Billy Paul.

Billy Paul's career took an unexpected turn when he was drafted into the Armed Services.

Billy Paul wanted to get away from music for a while, while he was in the service you know.

In 1960, Billy Paul recorded "There's a Small Hotel", backed with "I'm Always A Brother".

None of these songs charted, but Billy Paul would resurrect and re-record both "Ebony Woman" and "There's a Small Hotel" in later years.

Billy Paul was a brief stand-in for one of the ailing Blue Notes, with Harold Melvin.

Billy Paul came over and said 'I am starting a record company and I would like to sign you.

Billy Paul cut a new version of his 1959 single and made it the title track.

Billy Paul nearly reached the charts with the single "Magic Carpet Ride" and the album climbed to No 42 on the Billboard soul chart and No 197 on the pop chart.

Gamble, the co-writer and producer of the track, said the song "was great and Billy Paul sounded great doing it".

Ultimately, 360 Degrees of Billy Paul reached No 1 on the Billboard soul chart and No 17 on the pop chart.

Paul's next album, War of the Gods, was the follow-up to 360 Degrees of Billy Paul and was issued in November 1973.

The lyrics change in Billy Paul's record was decided upon independently by WVON radio.

Mr Billy Paul has not protested to WVON about the change.

Furthermore, interspersed with Billy Paul's verses are memorable passages of speeches by Malcolm X and King.

Billy Paul was furious and said that he had the "shock of my life" when he learned of the alteration.

When informed of the honor by Father Clements, Billy Paul reportedly cried tears of joy.

Billy Paul is telling us that the dreamers, like Dr Martin Luther King, are dead now, but it is time to let their dreams begin to come into our souls and begin to make an impact on our society.

Billy Paul released Only the Strong Survive in 1977 and it proved to be his final charting album, reaching No 152 on the Pop chart and No 36 Soul.

Billy Paul's final single for Philadelphia International was an edited version of a song from his first Philadelphia International album Going East: "Jesus Boy ", which failed to chart.

Billy Paul announced his retirement in 1989 on stage in London.

Post-"retirement", Billy Paul regularly toured in the US and abroad playing small clubs, hotel ballrooms, Las Vegas showrooms, Jazz festivals, and theaters.

The ad featured Billy Paul's studio recording of "Me and Mrs Jones".

Billy Paul sought $1 million in lost licensing fees, arguing that the company had cheated him by not obtaining his permission to use the song.

Billy Paul claimed that he had not received an accounting statement from Philadelphia International Records in 27 years and sued Assorted Music, its owners Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and Sony Music Entertainment for nearly half a million dollars.

At the 2003 trial in a federal district court in Los Angeles, Joseph E Porter, the attorney for Assorted Music, argued that Paul was only owed about $27,000, explaining that while the company had mistakenly failed to collect proper foreign royalties on the record, Paul actually owed the company about $314,000 for the costs of recording and producing the 10 albums he made for Philadelphia International from 1971 to 1980.

Billy Paul's career is, in its way, emblematic of black America's struggles over the last half century, including a descent into cocaine addiction and recovery, both shared with his wife, who remains a quirky, willful presence throughout the movie.

In 2011, Billy Paul participated in an album by French singer Chimene Badi, recording a duet with her on the Motown song "Ain't No Mountain High Enough".

Billy Paul received the 2015 AMG Favorite Retro Artist of the Year award, as well as being given the Sandy Hosey Lifetime Achievement Award during the Artists Music Guild's 2015 AMG Heritage Awards broadcast held on November 14,2015, in Monroe, North Carolina.

Billy Paul died on the afternoon of April 24,2016, at his home in the Blackwood section of Gloucester Township, New Jersey, from pancreatic cancer at the age of 81.