Basic Provisions
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Musician John B. Williams has been placed in hospice care after a fall, his wife told TMZ.
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Williams was a member of the staff bands TV show "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson"« и «The Arsenio Hall Show» .
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The artist served as the inspiration for Hall's comedy routine, "John B. Williams' Poetic Moment.".
Musician John B. Williams, who performed in the early 90s "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson"« and on Arsenio Hall's eponymous late-night show, has been placed in hospice care, his wife told TMZ.
Jessica Williams told the publication that John, 85, previously suffered from dementia, but recently suffered a fall that required brain surgery. As a result, he lost the ability to walk and speak.
Edition Entertainment Weekly contacted the musician's representative for comment.
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Williams' online biography notes that he played several instruments as a teenager, then enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1960. After fulfilling his obligations, he eventually secured a position with Horace Silver's Quintet, whose eponymous leader introduced him to the double bass.
In 1969 he was recommended to the musical director «The Tonight Show» Doc Severinsen, and he played with the Tonight Show Orchestra while also serving as bassist for «Sesame Street »" However, after seven years of working on evening talk shows, the musician recalled that he suffered from "talk show burnout.".
Williams (top left) on "The Arsenio Hall Show." Photo: Paramount Television/Courtesy Everett
But he finally returned to late night television in 1989, joining the program «The Arsenio Hall Show »" as a member of their full-time band, The Posse.
Williams also released several albums and played with other legendary musicians such as Dizzy Gillespie, Louis Armstrong, Hugh Masekela, Roy Ayers, and Count Basie.
In an interview with For Bass Players Only in 2014, he was asked about the album Notes on Life , released in 2011 and recorded by him and his wife.
«It was a combination of music and monologues, which I call „jazz theater,“» Williams said. «The idea came from my years working on a very popular The Arsenio Hall Show , as part of the studio group "Posse," and also through his ironic poetry work, which became a regular part of the show called "The John B. Williams Poetic Moment.".
Williams said it was because of this that he started performing in the theatre and that he was "hooked".
In March 2022, a video featuring Williams and a guest Arsenio Will Smith went viral after the actor famously punched Chris Rock in the face at the Oscars. Smith joked about Williams being bald back in 1991.
«"I didn't take it seriously," Williams said. Rolling Stone magazine . "He was a comedian. He was like the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. He was a rapper. I took it as a joke. I brushed it off.".
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.