Billy Preston’s Music Still Knows Exactly How to Move Us
Happy heavenly 80th birthday to thee great Billy Preston.
Born September 2, 1946, William Everett Preston would have turned 80 years old today. And 2026 carries another milestone with it: this year also marks 20 years since his passing on June 6, 2006.
That is a whole lot of time on paper. Put on the music, though, and Billy still sounds like he just walked into the room.
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Keep Billy Preston Spinning
Celebrate one of music’s great keyboard originals, then dig deeper into the records that made his sound impossible to mistake.
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From R&B and soul to gospel, funk and rock, Preston was not simply somebody who could play the keys. He was a keyboardist, singer, songwriter, composer and musical force with one of those sounds that could change the temperature of a record almost immediately.
His résumé almost reads like somebody decided to make up the greatest studio guest list possible. The Beatles. The Rolling Stones. Ray Charles. Little Richard. Sam Cooke. Aretha Franklin. Eric Clapton. Bob Dylan. Billy could move among all of them without disappearing inside anybody else’s music.
The “Fifth Beatle” Was Always Billy Preston First
For generations of rock fans, Preston became permanently connected to The Beatles. His electric piano and organ work during the group’s 1969 sessions became part of the sound of “Get Back,” and the single was famously credited to The Beatles with Billy Preston.
He remains one of only two non-Beatles to receive artist billing alongside the band on an official Beatles release. But reducing Billy Preston to the familiar “Fifth Beatle” nickname misses how enormous his own musical life actually was.
He had already been performing from childhood, working with gospel and soul giants before most people his age had figured out what they wanted to do for a living. And when his solo career truly caught fire in the 1970s, he delivered records that were unmistakably his.
“Will It Go Round in Circles” and “Nothing From Nothing” both reached No. 1 on the U.S. pop chart. His instrumental “Outa-Space” earned him a Grammy, while his writing credits include the gorgeous “You Are So Beautiful,” co-written with Bruce Fisher and later made famous by Joe Cocker.
In 2021, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inducted Preston in the Musical Excellence category, with Ringo Starr doing the honors. The Recording Academy credits him with two Grammy wins and nine nominations.
But the trophies and famous collaborators are only part of the reason his name still carries weight. Billy Preston had that rare thing: joy you could hear. Even when the groove was churchy, funky, dramatic or downright nasty, there was life inside it.
We speak your name, William Everett Preston.
Watch Billy Preston and Ray Charles Perform “Double O Soul” Live
Billy Preston tears into Edwin Starr’s 1964 song “Double O Soul” with the legendary Ray Charles on piano in this archival live performance shared by Billy Preston’s official music channel.
Sources: Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; Recording Academy; Billy Preston official YouTube.
