Leon Russell, born as Claude Russell Bridges, was an American musician and songwriter. He was involved with numerous bestselling pop music records during his 60-year career. His genres included pop, country, rock, folk, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, folk rock, blues rock, surf, standards, and Tulsa Sound.
Russell’s collaborations rank as some of the most successful in music history, and as a touring musician, he performed with hundreds of notable artists. He recorded 33 albums and at least 430 songs.
He wrote “Delta Lady”, recorded by Joe Cocker, and organized and performed with Cocker’s Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour in 1970. His “A Song for You”, added to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, has been recorded by more than 200 artists, and his “This Masquerade” by more than 7.
As a pianist, Russell played in his early years on albums by The Beach Boys, Dick Dale, and Jan and Dean. On his first album, in 1970, the musicians were Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. One of his biggest early fans, Elton John, was a “mentor” and an “inspiration” Lean Russell said. They recorded their album The Union in 2010, which earned them a Grammy nomination.
His recordings earned six gold records. He received two Grammy awards from seven nominations. In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
