Billy Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Everly Brothers, Reverend James Cleveland, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones.
60 Facts About Billy Preston
2.
Billy Preston continued to record and perform with George Harrison after the Beatles' breakup, along with other artists such as Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones on many of the group's albums and tours during the 1970s.
3.
On May 12,2021, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced that Billy Preston would be inducted with the Musical Excellence Award.
4.
Billy Preston was born September 2,1946, in Houston and moved to Los Angeles as a child with his mother Robbie Lee Williams.
5.
At 11, Billy Preston appeared on an episode of Nat King Cole's NBC TV show singing the Fats Domino hit "Blueberry Hill" with Cole.
6.
Billy Preston appeared in St Louis Blues, the 1958 W C Handy biopic starring Cole; Preston played Handy at a younger age.
7.
In 1962, Billy Preston joined Little Richard's band as an organist, and it was while performing in Hamburg that he met the Beatles.
8.
Billy Preston is among those sometimes known as the "Fifth Beatle".
9.
At one point John Lennon proposed the idea of having Billy Preston join the band; Paul McCartney countered it was difficult enough reaching agreements with four.
10.
Billy Preston played organ and electric piano for the Beatles during several of the Get Back sessions; some of these sessions appeared in the film Let It Be and on its companion album.
11.
Billy Preston accompanied the band on electric piano for its rooftop concert, the group's final public appearance.
12.
Billy Preston worked, in a more limited role, on the 1969 Abbey Road album, contributing organ to the tracks "I Want You " and "Something".
13.
Billy Preston appeared on several of Harrison's 1970s solo albums, starting with All Things Must Pass; made a notable contribution to the Concert for Bangladesh, the Harrison-organized 1971 charity benefit; performed with the ex-Beatle on his 1974 tour of North America; and played at the 2002 Concert for George tribute, held at Royal Albert Hall.
14.
Billy Preston worked on solo releases by Lennon and Ringo Starr.
15.
Later that year, Billy Preston contributed the title song to the hit blaxploitation film Slaughter starring Jim Brown.
16.
From 1970, Billy Preston played keyboards for the Rolling Stones, sometimes alongside pianists Nicky Hopkins and Ian Stewart, on their albums Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St, Goats Head Soup, It's Only Rock 'n Roll and Black and Blue.
17.
Billy Preston continued to play on solo records by Stones members like Mick Jagger's Wandering Spirit, and made appearances on the band's Tattoo You and Bridges to Babylon.
18.
Billy Preston's career lost momentum in the 1980s due to his cocaine and alcohol addictions.
19.
Billy Preston left Motown in 1984 and focused on session work, contributing to works by artists such as Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Patti LaBelle, among others.
20.
Billy Preston served as musical director for Nightlife, a late-night talk show hosted by David Brenner that lasted one season from 1986 to 1987.
21.
Billy Preston toured with Eric Clapton, recorded with Gary Walker, one of the vocalists in his Los Angeles-based band, and worked with a wide range of other artists.
22.
Billy Preston toured with Ringo Starr, appearing on his 1990 live album.
23.
Billy Preston was invited to become a member of The Band in 1991, after the death of piano player Stan Szelest.
24.
In 1997, Billy Preston recorded the album You and I, in Italy, with Italian band Novecento.
25.
In 1998, Billy Preston played organ during the choir numbers on the UPN comedy show Good News.
26.
On November 29,2001, while touring and fighting his own health problems, Billy Preston received the news that George Harrison had died, after a long illness.
27.
In 2002, Billy Preston appeared on the Johnny Cash album American IV: The Man Comes Around, playing piano on "Personal Jesus" and "Tear-Stained Letter".
28.
In 2004, Billy Preston toured with the Funk Brothers and Steve Winwood in Europe, and then with Clapton in Europe and North America.
29.
Billy Preston's performance included a duet with Sam Moore on "You Are So Beautiful"; this was Preston's last filmed concert.
30.
In 2004, Billy Preston performed as a jazz organist on Ray Charles's Genius Loves Company, an album of duets, on the song "Here We Go Again" with Charles and Norah Jones.
31.
Billy Preston played clavinet on the song "Warlocks" for the Red Hot Chili Peppers album Stadium Arcadium.
32.
Billy Preston's final recorded contributions were the gospel-tinged organ on the Neil Diamond album 12 Songs, and his keyboard work on The Road to Escondido by Eric Clapton and JJ Cale.
33.
In late 2005, Billy Preston made his last public performance, in Los Angeles, to publicize the re-release of the 1972 documentary film The Concert for Bangladesh.
34.
Billy Preston was brought up in the African-American gospel tradition; he was a committed Christian throughout his life and openly expressed his faith in works such as his 1970s hit "That's the Way God Planned It".
35.
Billy Preston was deeply attached to his mother, for whom he wrote the song that became his best-known composition, "You Are So Beautiful".
36.
Billy Preston told Moore that at about the age of nine, after he and his mother moved to Los Angeles from Houston to perform in a touring production of Amos 'n' Andy, he was repeatedly abused by the touring company's pianist.
37.
When Billy Preston told his mother about the abuse, she did not believe him, and failed to protect him.
38.
The abuse went on for the entire summer, and Billy Preston was later abused by a local pastor.
39.
In 1991, Billy Preston checked into a drug rehabilitation program to treat his addictions.
40.
The boy told authorities that Billy Preston took him to his Malibu home, smoked cocaine, showed him pornographic pictures and tried to assault him before he escaped.
41.
Billy Preston was charged with assault with a deadly weapon involving a man he picked up to do work at his home, the day before his arrest in the case involving the boy.
42.
Billy Preston entered no-contest pleas to the cocaine and assault charges.
43.
Billy Preston was sentenced to nine months at a drug rehabilitation center and three months of house arrest.
44.
In 1992, Billy Preston was sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating his probation on a drunk driving conviction.
45.
In 1997, Billy Preston was sentenced to three years in a California prison for cocaine possession in violation of his probation.
46.
Billy Preston had been placed on three years' probation earlier that year after testing positive for cocaine use; under the terms, he agreed to spend 90 days in jail and to remain drug-free.
47.
Billy Preston pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against other defendants involved in the scam.
48.
Billy Preston's plea called for five years of probation, one year in jail, and $60,000 in restitution.
49.
At California's Avenal State Prison, Billy Preston led a chorus and performed at church services.
50.
Billy Preston served 18 months of his four-year sentence, after which he apparently became drug-free.
51.
Billy Preston had suffered kidney disease in his later years, brought on by his hypertension.
52.
Billy Preston received a kidney transplant in 2002, but his health continued to deteriorate.
53.
Billy Preston had voluntarily entered a drug rehabilitation clinic in Malibu, California, and suffered pericarditis there, leading to respiratory failure that left him in a coma from November 21,2005.
54.
Billy Preston was buried at Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.
55.
Billy Preston had such a spiritual touch to his technique; it made him completely unique.
56.
In 2021, White Horse Pictures and Homegrown Pictures announced that they were making a documentary on Billy Preston, to be directed by Paris Barclay.
57.
Billy Preston was nominated for nine Grammy Awards and won two.
58.
Billy Preston won a Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Outa-Space" at the 15th Annual Grammy Awards in 1973.
59.
Billy Preston won a Grammy Award for Album of the Year for his participation in the album The Concert For Bangla Desh at the same ceremony.
60.
Billy Preston was inducted into the Class of 2021 of the Rock and Roll Hall Fame with the Musical Excellence Award.