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Tony Williams (drummer)

1945–1997

United States

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Biography

Anthony Tillmon Williams (December 12, 1945 – February 23, 1997) was an American jazz drummer. Williams first gained fame as a member of Miles Davis's "Second Great Quintet", and later pioneered jazz fusion with Davis's group and his own combo, The Tony Williams Lifetime. In 1970, music critic Robert Christgau described him as "probably the best drummer in the world". Williams was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1986 and the Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame in 1997.

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Biography text · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source checked 2026-10-20

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