Get the latest gossip
‘I just had to rejoice’: the brilliance and tragedy of ‘fifth Beatle’ Billy Preston
A magnetically vibrant keyboard prodigy who played on Let It Be and worked with George Harrison, Preston later lived through years of addiction. A new film aims to find ‘the dark and the light’ in his story
Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Barbara Streisand and Elton John all hired him; he put out solo records and wrote hits for others, including Joe Cocker’s You Are So Beautiful. Photograph: David Hume Kennerly/Getty ImagesNow, in the documentary Billy Preston: That’s the Way God Planned It, directed by US TV veteran Paris Barclay, friends and colleagues including Eric Clapton, Olivia Harrison(George’s widow) and the late gospel singer Sandra Crouch tell his story. Those involved with That’s the Way God Planned It hope that the film will raise important questions of how loved ones can support individuals with drug problems like Billy Preston – or indeed Liam Payne, Barclay says, speaking shortly after the former One Direction star’s death.
Or read this on The Guardian
