Part of Music City Mondays
Musical prodigy, admired and beloved by collaborators including Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Aretha Franklin, the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Sly Stone and others… Dubbed “the fifth Beatle” for his co-credited “Get Back” recording… Genius of gospel, rock and funk as keyboardist, vocalist and songwriter. Billy Preston was also troubled, underrecognized, and elusive — a closeted gay man raised in a Black church community that stridently condemned homosexuality (or pretended it didn’t exist) who later fell into drug addiction, tax debt and imprisonment. Through electrifying concert footage and moving interviews with Billy Porter, Ringo Starr, Merry Clayton, and Preston’s longtime friend Eric Clapton, Emmy®-winning director Paris Barclay and writer Cheo Hodari Coker bring this unsung maestro front and center, with a revelatory story of what might have — and should have — been.
“Why didn’t Billy Preston become a bigger star? Who was he, exactly, as an artist? I went into the documentary fuzzy about all those things and came out feeling like I finally knew him.” —Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“A poignant examination of the relationship between music, selfhood, joy, and spirituality.” —Emily McCullar, Texas Monthly
“A sometimes mind-blowing documentary… As tough a life as Preston had, the music that buoys this chronicle is a constant source of joy.” —Glenn Kenny, NYT Critic’s Pick, New York Times