Billy Ward (born Robert L. Williams, 19 September 1921, Savannah, Georgia, died 16 February 2002, Inglewood, California) grew up in Philadelphia, the second of three sons of Charles Williams and Cora Bates Williams, and was a child musical prodigy, winning an award for a piano composition at the age of 14. Following military service with the Coast Guard Artillery Choir, he studied music in Chicago, and at the Juilliard School of Music in New York, something that very few blacks like Ward had achieved. While working as a vocal coach and part-time arranger on Broadway, he met talent agent Rose Marks, who became his business and songwriting partner.