The two men started a friendship which lasted over 60 years. Later he hosted a program on WHO-AM, where he first met the station’s young sports announcer, Ronald “Dutch” Reagan. “I had a piano teacher growing up who would never play a song for me, she would make me play it from sheet music so I could learn to read music,” Williams said, according to biographical information provided by Wilcox.Īs a teenager, he was given his own 15-minute radio show on KRNT-AM, which was broadcast live from a Des Moines, Iowa, department store. By age 9 he was prolific with several instruments and could play anything by ear. When the two men turned 80, Williams played a 12-hour marathon at the Jimmy Carter Library and Museum in Atlanta, with the former president in attendance.īorn Louis Wertz in Nebraska, Williams started playing piano at age 3. Williams was good friends with Jimmy Carter, with whom he shared a birthday. His last trip to the White House was in 2008, when he performed at a luncheon for then-first lady Laura Bush. Nicknamed the “pianist to the presidents,” Williams played for every commander in chief from Harry Truman to George H.W. It remains the best-selling piano record of all time, with more than 2 million sold. Williams’ 1955 hit “Autumn Leaves” was the only piano instrumental to reach number one on the Billboard pop charts. “He could touch any audience, from teenagers to senior citizens.” He was one of the greatest personalities I’ve ever known,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, a longtime friend of Williams and himself a musician. “Roger was one of the greatest pianists in the world and could play anything from classical music to jazz. Known as an electrifying stage performer and an adept improviser, Williams effortlessly switched between musical styles. Williams died at his home in Los Angeles of complications from pancreatic cancer, according to his former publicist, Rob Wilcox. presidents during a long career, died Saturday. LOS ANGELES (AP) - Roger Williams, the virtuoso pianist who topped the Billboard pop charts in the 1950s and played for nine U.S. By CHRISTOPHER WEBER – Associated Press | AP – 18 hrs ago
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