Prior to confirmation of his sister's passing, Williams asked followers on Facebook . Williams is survived by his wife, a son, four sisters and a brother. But just leading his own band wasnt enough for Williams. What happened to Toby Mac's sister? Singer posts heartfelt message on Tony Williams, an old school friend of mine, who has died aged 80 after complications from Alzheimer's disease, was a record producer, the founder of Spotlite Records and a pioneer of the. Publicity Listings Either email addresses are anonymous for this group or you need the view member email addresses permission to view the original message. All photos uploaded successfully, click on the Done button to see the photos in the gallery. Continuing with this request will add an alert to the cemetery page and any new volunteers will have the opportunity to fulfill your request. To view a photo in more detail or edit captions for photos you added, click the photo to open the photo viewer. Resend Activation Email. He later performed with his own, unauthorized version of the Platters, known as the International Platters, which also featured his wife. The photograph that accompanied yesterday's obituary of Tony Williams, the original lead singer of the Platters, was not a picture of the singer. Frazer Harrison/Getty Images. It was evident that Tony was at home in this rarefied world. Born in Chicago and raised . Williams also wrote a piece for the Kronos Quartet as part of a festival tribute to his career. He was 51. The albums also served as a preview of Williams intention and ability to explore as many facets of music as he could.The Davis band was rewriting jazz history nightly, but, by the late 60s, Williams musical muse had called again. . Learn more about managing a memorial . (Published 8/16/92). (Reprinted from Down Beat magazine: April 1997). DALY CITY, Calif. (AP) Tony Williams, who set the standard for modern jazz drumming as a teen prodigy with the Miles Davis Quintet and later became a seminal figure in jazz-rock fusion,has died of a heart attack. Get our L.A. Year should not be greater than current year. He was the lead singer of the 1950s musical group, The Platters. "[7] His playing helped redefine the role of the jazz rhythm section through the use of polyrhythms and metric modulation.