Walter williams sr biography
Top twenty albums [ edit ]. Top twenty singles [ edit ]. DVDs [ edit ].
Walter williams sr biography
Gold and platinum records [ edit ]. Other awards [ edit ]. See also [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. Retrieved January 31, Vanguard Books. ISBN X. Retrieved July 20, San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 10 April London, England: Guinness Publishing. ISBN As they began partnering with local promoters, they learned that their shows would often become packed.
And, more audiences were reached than ever before. They began being hired by large venues, leading into their touring with major touring circuits. Today, they perform for sold out arenas and in front of audiences of stars who have inspired and influenced them. If there is one thing Walter will stand by in the industry, it is that the live show will influence your art.
You can feed off of them. You can learn exactly what they want. You can give them everything they ask for, everything they love you for. You just have to talk to them and care. As time passed, the legendary Cholly Atkins passed away. It goes without saying that this was a very emotional time for Walter. They were very close. Cholly may have been hard on him and all the others; but to Walter, he was also a great friend and part of the family.
It was an extremely emotional moment when Walter was asked to sing at his funeral. He has two sons and three girls. One of his daughters, for example, did sing gospel music at one point, but her calling was to become a missionary. He has always supported his children getting an education and creating a life for themselves. He stresses that academics are everything.
He even suggests Apprenticeship and speaks on how being humble and not a blunder to others will teach you so much through hands-on experiences. He is for education all across the board. As a matter of fact, Walter gives back to academically advanced children through annual scholarship funds. These funds pay the tuition for the award winning students, as well as providing funding for books and supplies.
Williams loves giving back to the community. He really enjoys it. Every year, Water and Eddie raise money by doing shows and throwing special celebrity golf tournaments. For nine years, these amazing men have went out of their way to organize the event from scratch and raise funds, even reaching out to local businesses, personally, in getting them involved.
Walter Williams. A true humanitarian, he continues working hard to provide for not just his family, but a community with hopes of aiding the future into success. In , Walter Williams shocked the World. Ever since his first bout with Multiple Sclerosis in , he began living with a secret. It was virtually unknown to anyone, but those very close to Walter, that he was living with such a challenging disease.
No one knew just how much of a warrior he was. And, in , Mr. In , he went through an extremely hard time in fighting the disease after living with it for so long. It was actually then that he was introduced to Avonex interferon beta 1-a. Through treatments, he has been living relapse-free. And, because of this, Avonex chose Walter as their spokesperson for one year, whereas he became a brand ambassador.
We had no control. That sucks. I remember that one. I sure do. I gotta say, back then, we were not educated enough to have started our own publishing and writing and ways to keep up with what happened with that material. Laughing Find out what happened with that material, and who claims it right now. Because these are some phenomenal tracks. I agree with you and I appreciate it.
When Bobby Massey left, in , and you guys were down to a trio, did you think about calling it a day? Like, ever, at that point? Absolutely not. I think him leaving the group made the group stronger. And we knew what we had to do then. Because he was the second guy that left. We just knew we had to…we had really put some effort into it, after he left.
He, in my opinion, should never have left, totally left the group. Well, at least I thought he was. Because he did himself a disservice by leaving. He should have gone into the management area. If nothing more than permanent road manager. He could have done that, and he would have been paid well for doing it. But he was angry because Gamble and Huff would not let him write and produce.
I had to fight for that. To get it. And finally, eventually we got it. That we could write, and we could produce. When we got with them, they were with Leonard Chess. And when Leonard Chess passed away, the bottom fell out of everything. And then they went and talked to Walter Yetnikoff and got a deal. And had people like Bruce Lundvall to help.
Clive Davis to help. And CBS profited handsomely, too. Because they had the next Motown on their hands. Well, we knew then we had to catch up and keep up. And the crowds really loved it. Yeah, he did. But later in life like I did, he developed MS. And I think he went all over in France looking for a cure. I went to Cleveland Clinic. And so when I got to L.
That must have been in the eighties. But I did it. I had a pity party for about maybe two months, and then I got pissed. And you gonna be in a fight. I started eating better, I started exercising, did a lot of cold walks in the winter because cool makes it feel better. I took cold showers. I read up on it, and tried as best I could to figure out a way to still function with it.
I got on that shot, and it helped me tremendously. I thank God for that. Seriously, I do. But I did! Thank you man, I really appreciate that. Oh, wow. It was devastating. Because we grew up together as kids. I met him when I was probably 14, 15 years old. Will is gone! At his funeral, it was difficult. It was in Canton, where everybody knew us, because we grew up there.
At least he was with you when you made it to the top. And he got to have that experience. Well, we were blessed to run into Gamble and Huff, and cut a deal with them and go forward. They were excellent writers, they were conscious about what was happening in the world, and we were the messengers! They gave it to us, and we put our thing on it, and then they gave it to the public and the public said whether or not they agreed.
We were blessed to get it. You believe in these songs. Oh, absolutely. Like love. Love is all throughout the Bible. It was about love, and no one could deny that. And we talked about different countries that agreed. Suddenly, The O'Jays' fortunes changed and they finally scored with their first million-seller, "Back Stabbers", from the album of the same name.
Original member William Powell died of cancer in at age The O'Jays success was not confined to the United States, as they also logged up nine hit singles in the United Kingdom between and , including four tracks that reached the Top 20 in the UK Singles Chart.