Billy Stewart

Billy Stewart, born William Larry Stewart II on March 24, 1937, in Washington, D.C., was an American R&B singer and pianist who built a following during the 1960s and appeared on Broadway in 1959 in Belafonte at the Palace. He died on January 17, 1970, at the age of 32.

Stewart's musical life began early. At twelve years old he started singing alongside his younger brothers Johnny, James, and Frank as the Four Stewart Brothers, a group that eventually secured a Sunday radio program on WUST in Washington, D.C., which ran for five years. He later graduated from Armstrong High School, now known as Friendship Armstrong Academy, in that city. His path into secular music came through occasional appearances with the Rainbows, a Washington, D.C.-area vocal group fronted by Don Covay, and it was through that connection that Stewart first encountered an aspiring singer named Marvin Gaye.

Rock and roll musician Bo Diddley is credited with discovering Stewart at the piano in Washington, D.C., and bringing him on as a backup musician. By 1955 Stewart had signed a recording contract with Chess Records, the label associated with Diddley, and in 1956 Diddley played guitar on Stewart's recording of "Billy's Blues," which reached the top 25 in Variety magazine's sales charts in Los Angeles. Stewart subsequently moved to Okeh Records, where he recorded "Billy's Heartache" backed by the Marquees, a D.C.-area group that also featured Marvin Gaye.

Returning to Chess in the early 1960s, Stewart worked with A&R man Billy Davis and recorded "Fat Boy," followed by "Reap What You Sow" and "Strange Feeling," both of which placed on the Billboard Hot 100 and reached the Top 30 of the R&B charts. His most commercially successful period arrived in 1965 with two self-written songs: "I Do Love You," which reached number six on the R&B chart and number 26 on the pop chart, and "Sitting in the Park," which climbed to number four on the R&B chart and number 24 on the pop chart. His brother Johnny Stewart sang backing vocals on "I Do Love You" alongside James English. Stewart's distinctive approach to performance — a technique involving doubling-up, scatting, and lip trilling — set his style apart from other artists of the era.

In 1966 Stewart released the LP Unbelievable. The album's first single was his interpretation of George Gershwin's "Summertime," which became a Top 10 hit on both the pop and R&B charts. A follow-up cover of Doris Day's "Secret Love" reached the pop Top 30 and came close to the Top 10 on the R&B chart. He continued recording for Chess through the remainder of the decade without achieving comparable chart success. During this period Stewart developed diabetes, and in 1969 he sustained minor injuries in a motorcycle accident.

Stewart died in January 1970 when the Ford Thunderbird he was driving left the highway near a bridge over the Neuse River outside Smithfield, North Carolina, struck the bridge abutment, and plunged into the water. Three members of his band were killed alongside him: Norman P. Rich, 39, of Washington, D.C.; William Cathey, 32, of Charlotte; and Rico Hightower, 22, of Newark, New Jersey. The four were traveling to a nightclub engagement in Columbia, South Carolina at the time. The vehicle had been purchased twelve days earlier and had been driven only 1,400 miles. Stewart was buried at National Harmony Memorial Park in Landover, Maryland. The executrix of his estate, Sarah Stewart, subsequently filed suit against Ford Motor Company alleging mechanical failure; after Ford prevailed at trial, an appellate court reversed and remanded the case, and it was ultimately settled out of court.

Stewart's recording of "Summertime" has continued to reach new audiences in the decades since his death. Bob Dylan featured it on his Theme Time Radio Hour and referenced Stewart in responses to listener questions. The track also appeared in the final scene of the 2003 film Stuck on You and in a scene from Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Stewart's music gained particular popularity among Chicano youth on the West Coast. He was inducted into the Washington, D.C. Area Music Association Hall of Fame in 2002 and into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame as part of the class of 2021.