Billy Preston

William Everett Billy Preston was an American musician whose work included RampB, rock, soul, funk and gospel. A virtuoso keyboardist, particularly on Hammond organ, Preston was recognized as a top session musician in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles and the Beatles. He then went on to achieve fame as a solo artist, with hit pop singles including Thats the Way God Planned It, OutaSpace, Will It Go Round in Circles, Space Race, and Nothing from Nothing. In addition, Preston cowrote You Are So Beautiful, which became a numberhit for Joe Cocker, and Stephen Stills asked Preston if he could use his phrase if you cant be with the one you love, love the one youre with and created the hit song.

Preston was born on September 2, 1946, in Houston, Texas. When he was three, the family moved to Los Angeles, where Preston began playing piano while sitting on his mother Robbies lap. Noted as a child prodigy, Preston was entirely selftaught and never had a music lesson. By the age of ten, Preston was playing organ onstage backing several gospel singers such as Mahalia Jackson, James Cleveland and Andra Crouch. At age eleven, Preston appeared on Nat King Coles national TV show singing the Fats Domino hit, Blueberry Hill with Cole. Also at eleven, he appeared in the W.C. Handy biopic starring Nat King Cole St. Louis Blues , playing W.C. Handy at a younger age.

Source: Wikipedia