Leon Russell

Leon Russell was just 14 when he first started performing in night clubs in Tulsa, Oklahoma with his band The Starlighters, which also included J.J. Cale. Moving to Los Angeles, he studied guitar with the great James Burton and established a strong reputation as a session guitarist, playing on many of the most popular records of the 1960s, including The Byrds, Herb Alpert and Gary Lewis And The Playboys. Attention focused on him when Joe Cocker had a hit with one of his songs Delta Lady in 1969 and Russell went on to enhance his own reputation as bandleader on Cocker's subsequent Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour. The following year he recorded his first self-titled solo album, including A Song For You (which went on to become one of his best-known recordings), with over 40 cover versions including Ray Charles, Whitney Houston and Christina Aguilera and in 1972 he had a Number 2 album in the US with Carney. Russell continued to be an influential session musician, working closely with B.B. King, Eric Clapton and Bob Dylan and had a US Number 1 duetting with Willie Nelson on Heartbreak Hotel. He spent the next two years touring with New Grass Revival and in 2010 collaborated with Elton John on the successful double album The Union and toured with John through 2011.