Leon Russell was an American child who started playing the piano at the age of 4. He became a famous musician and songwriter who made several best-selling songs during his 60-year career in music. His genre included pop music, country, gospel, rock, blues, etc. Leon Russell during his career received six gold discs in recognition of his many beautiful songs.
Leon Russell Wiki, Biography, Death
Leon Russell was born and named Claude Russell Bridges on April 2, 1942 in Lawton, Oklahoma, USA. He went to Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma and spent much of his childhood in Oklahoma. He learned to play the piano when he was 4 years old, and by 14 he was performing regularly in Tulsa nightclubs as he was more determined to promote his musical career than anything else.
He came up with the name Leon when his friend gave him a fake ID that had Leon’s name on it so he could access nightclubs as an adult when in reality he was still a very young teenager. When Leon graduated from high school, he had already gotten a band named The Starlighters. They started touring for a few months playing music and gaining new fans as Leon Russell also became more popular.
At the age of 17 and precisely in 1959, the young Russell left Oklahoma for Los Angeles where he found regular employment there as a musician for shows and studio recordings. This decision exposed him greatly to the rudiments of making the type of music he had a flair for. Leon was young and quick to learn, it wasn’t long before he found himself associating with and in fact becoming a member of the famous, if not evergreen, Wrecking Crew music group. They were the best and most sought after of the 60s. The young Leon was not one of them until he was 17 years old.
During this time he collaborated with several artists and made many great songs. One of his best-known songs, Song for You was released at this time. He had over 40 versions of it published by over 40 different artists.
The millennium years saw a reduced importance of his musical activities not before artists like Elton John and Bernie Taupin sought to collaborate for a new album. They made T The Union which was credited to Elton John and Leon Russell. It was in February 2010 and in October of the same year, the CDs were released.
However, prior to the release of the making of the album in February 2010, Leon Russell had a medical condition known as brain fluid leak in January 2010. This partly halted the recording as he was hospitalized for brain surgery in addition to heart failure and pneumonia. He recovered and had a public performance with Elton John on April 2, 2011.
Leone died in his sleep at the age of 74 at his Nashville home in Mount Juliet Tennessee on November 13, 2016. The cause of death is believed to be natural causes and not associated with his previous surgeries. He had suffered a heart attack in 2016 and was in good health when he died. His funeral was held on November 18 at Victory Baptist Church Mount Juliet Tennessee with a public memorial held in his honor at Roberts University Mabee Center on November 20, 2016.
Leon Russell Wife, Children
Leon Russell was married to Mary McCreary on June 20, 1975. She was his musical partner, but 5 years later they renounced their marriage and were legally divorced on October 3, 1960. Before Mary, Leon had a daughter who was born on February 20, 1972. She was named Blueagle after the American artist Blue Eagle.
Mary McCreary gave birth to two children for Leon Russell during their 5-year marriage. They were parents to Tina Rose and Teddy Jack, a girl and a boy respectively.
Leon married Janet Lee Constantine on February 6, 1983, who gave birth to 3 daughters for him. They had Sugaree Noel on October 9, 1982, Honey on January 19, 1986, and Coco on April 29, 1990.
Net worth of Leon Russell
Leon after his death has a net worth of $600,000. He earned this from his career as a musician and songwriter.