My Favorite Keyboard Players (Part Two)

In Part One I chose; Keith Emerson, Rick Wakeman, Eumir Deodato, Gershon Kingsley, Jon Lord, and Elton John. I’ll keep it going here with some more excellent ticklers of the ivories!

Billy Joel (born May 9, 1949, in the Bronx, New York, and raised primarily in Hicksville, Long Island) is an American singer, songwriter, pianist, and composer widely regarded as one of the most successful recording artists in popular music history. The son of Howard and Rosalind Joel, he began studying classical piano as a child and attended Hicksville High School before leaving without graduating,

later receiving an honorary diploma from the school decades afterward. After performing with several local bands during the 1960s, he launched a solo career that achieved international success with Piano Man (1973) and continued with a remarkable run of hit albums including The Stranger, 52nd Street, Glass Houses, An Innocent Man, Storm Front, and River of Dreams, producing enduring classics such as “Piano Man,” “Just the Way You Are,” “Only the Good Die Young,” “My Life,” “It’s Still Rock and Roll to Me,”

“Uptown Girl,” and “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” He has sold more than 160 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and has enjoyed a celebrated concert career highlighted by his record-breaking residency at Madison Square Garden. His personal life has included marriages to

Elizabeth Weber, Christie Brinkley, Katie Lee, and Alexis Roderick, and he is the father of three daughters. Among his many honors are six Grammy Awards, induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame, the Kennedy Center Honors, the Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and numerous other lifetime achievement awards.

Nicky Hopkins (Nicholas Christian Hopkins) was born on February 24, 1944, in Perivale, Middlesex, England, and developed exceptional piano skills from an early age, studying at the Royal Academy of Music. Although initially pursuing a career in classical music, chronic health problems led him toward session work,

where he became one of the most sought-after rock pianists of the 1960s and 1970s. He first gained prominence as a member of the Cyril Davies Rhythm and Blues All Stars and later joined the Jeff Beck Group, while also performing on countless recordings by artists including the Rolling Stones, the Kinks, the Who, the Beatles, the Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, Quicksilver Messenger Service, and many others. His tasteful, melodic piano playing became an

essential part of classic albums such as Beggars Banquet, Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main St., Who’s Next, and The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society, and he also released several solo albums. Hopkins married Moira Buchan in 1975, and despite lifelong struggles with Crohn’s disease, he continued recording and performing until his death from complications following intestinal surgery on Tuesday, September 6, 1994, in Nashville, Tennessee, at the age of 50. He was survived by his wife, Moira Hopkins.

John Paul Jones (born John Richard Baldwin on January 3, 1946, in Sidcup, Kent, England) is an English musician, composer, arranger, producer, and multi-instrumentalist best known as the bassist and keyboardist for Led Zeppelin. The son of touring musicians Joe and Ada Baldwin,

he received his education at Christ’s College in Blackheath, London, where he studied music and quickly developed exceptional skills on piano, organ, bass guitar, and arranging. He began his professional career as a session musician and arranger in the early 1960s, working with artists including the Rolling Stones,

Donovan, Dusty Springfield, Herman’s Hermits, and Tom Jones before co-founding Led Zeppelin in 1968 with Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, and John Bonham. His versatile musicianship and innovative arrangements were instrumental in the band’s success on landmark albums such as Led Zeppelin IV, Houses of the Holy, Physical Graffiti, and Presence, and he contributed memorable bass lines, keyboard parts,

mandolin, and other instrumental performances to many of the group’s classic songs. Following Led Zeppelin’s dissolution in 1980, he pursued a successful career as a producer, composer, session musician, and member of projects including Them Crooked Vultures while collaborating with numerous artists across rock, folk, and experimental music.

His personal life has remained notably private; he has been married to Maureen Jones since 1967, and they have three daughters. His honors include induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Led Zeppelin, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award with the band, a Kennedy Center Honor as a member of Led Zeppelin, and numerous other industry accolades.

Richard William Wright was born on July 28, 1943, in Hatch End, Middlesex, England, and was raised in London, where he developed an early interest in music and learned piano, trumpet, and guitar. He attended Haberdashers’ Aske’s School before enrolling at the Regent Street Polytechnic to study architecture, where he met Roger Waters and Nick Mason; together they later formed the band that became Pink Floyd, with Syd Barrett joining soon afterward.

Wright’s distinctive keyboard work, atmospheric synthesizer textures, and occasional lead vocals became defining elements of Pink Floyd’s sound on albums including The Dark Side of the Moon, Wish You Were Here, Animals, The Wall, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, The Division Bell, and The Endless River, while he also released the

solo albums Wet Dream and Broken China and performed with David Gilmour on several projects after the band’s active years. His personal life included three marriages—to Juliette Gale, Franka Wright, and Mildred “Millie” Hobbs—and he had three children.

Wright received numerous honors as a member of Pink Floyd, including induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 and the band’s Polar Music Prize in 2008. He died from lung cancer at his home in London on Monday, September 15, 2008, at the age of 65, and was survived by his wife, Millie Hobbs, and his three children.

Jerry Lee Lewis was born on September 29, 1935, in Ferriday, Louisiana, to Elmo and Mamie Lewis and displayed extraordinary musical talent from an early age, learning piano by listening to gospel, country, and boogie-woogie performers. He briefly attended the Southwest Bible Institute in Waxahachie, Texas,

but left after his energetic style of playing religious music was deemed inappropriate. Lewis rose to fame after signing with Sun Records in Memphis, becoming one of the pioneers of rock and roll with explosive hits such as “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin’ On,” “Great Balls of Fire,” “Breathless,” and “High School Confidential.” Nicknamed “The Killer” for his electrifying stage performances, he was renowned for his pounding piano style and helped define early rock music

before his career was derailed in 1958 by controversy surrounding his marriage to his 13-year-old cousin once removed, Myra Gale Brown. He later rebuilt his career as one of country music’s leading artists with hits including “Another Place, Another Time,” “What’s Made Milwaukee Famous (Has Made a Loser Out of Me),” and “Would You Take Another Chance on Me,”

and continued recording and performing for more than six decades. His personal life was marked by seven marriages, the deaths of two of his children, and numerous health challenges, while his many honors included induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a charter member in 1986, the Rockabilly Hall of Fame, the Country Music Hall of Fame, a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a National Medal of Arts.

Jerry Lee Lewis died at his home in DeSoto County, Mississippi, on Friday, October 28, 2022, at the age of 87, and was survived by his wife, Judith Lewis, his children Ronnie Guy Lewis, Phoebe Lewis, Lori Lee Lewis, and Jerry Lee Lewis III, along with several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Billy Preston was born William Everett Preston on September 2, 1946, in Houston, Texas, and was raised in Los Angeles, California, where his extraordinary musical talent emerged at an early age as he learned piano and organ and performed gospel music in church. Although largely self-taught, he received musical guidance from leading gospel performers and was already appearing with artists such as

Mahalia Jackson as a child before becoming a successful session musician. Preston gained international recognition through his work with Little Richard, Ray Charles, the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, and numerous other major artists, earning the nickname “the Fifth Beatle” for his significant contributions to the band’s Let It Be sessions and becoming the only musician ever credited on a Beatles single with “Get Back.”

He also enjoyed a highly successful solo career with chart-topping hits including “Will It Go Round in Circles,” “Nothing from Nothing,” and “Outa-Space,” while his distinctive keyboard playing became a defining sound on countless classic rock, soul,

gospel, and pop recordings. His personal life was marked by extraordinary musical accomplishments as well as struggles with substance abuse and legal problems later in life. His honors include two Grammy Awards,

induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the Musical Excellence category in 2021, and enduring recognition as one of the greatest keyboard players in popular music history. Billy Preston died in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Tuesday, June 6, 2006, at the age of 59 from complications of chronic kidney failure following a coma brought on by hypertension, and was survived by his mother, Robbie Preston.