Jerry Lynn Williams (1948–2005) was an American rock music singer and composer. He wrote such hits as " Forever Man", " See What Love Can Do", " Something's Happening", "

Running on Faith ''Journeyman'' is the eleventh solo studio album by Eric Clapton. Heralded as a return to form for Clapton, who had struggled with alcohol addiction and recently found sobriety, the album has a 1980s electronic sound, but it also includes blues ...

" and " Pretending" for

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

. He contributed two songs, "

Real Man ''Real Man'' is the sixth studio album by American country music singer Billy Dean. It was released August 25, 1998, via Capitol Records Nashville. The album includes two singles: the title track and "Innocent Bystander", which respectively reac ...

" and " I Will Not Be Denied", to

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

's 1989 album '' Nick of Time''. He had previously written material for Raitt's 1986 album '' Nine Lives''. He also wrote songs for

Robert Plant Robert Anthony Plant (born 20 August 1948) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and lyricist of the English rock band Led Zeppelin for all of its existence from 1968 until 1980, when the band broke up following the ...

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, shi ...

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years, ...

and

Jimmie Vaughan Jimmie Vaughan (born March 20, 1951) is an American blues rock guitarist and singer based in Austin, Texas. He is the older brother of the late Texas blues guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Several notable blues guitarists have had a significant ...

. As a performer, he released albums on

Warner Bros. Records Warner Records Inc. (formerly Warner Bros. Records Inc.) is an American record label. A subsidiary of the Warner Music Group, it is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It was founded on March 19, 1958, as the recorded music division of the ...

and

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during the 1970s, and his break as a songwriter came when

Delbert McClinton Delbert McClinton (born November 4, 1940) is an American blues rock and electric blues singer-songwriter, guitarist, harmonica player, and pianist. From his first professional stage appearance in 1957 to his most recent national tour in 2018, ...

's cover of a song from his second album, "Givin' It Up for Your Love", reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...

. In his autobiography, Clapton recalled meeting Williams for the first time after his record label,

, sent him demos of "Forever Man", "See What Love Can Do" and "Something's Happening" as suggestions for an upcoming album, which turned out to be '' Behind the Sun'' in 1985. Clapton recalled that he "loved the way illiamssang". Music author Marc Roberty claims that Williams's writing "seemed to suit Eric's vocals perfectly". Williams was born in 1948 in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

. He died at age 57 from kidney and liver failure on his yacht on November 25, 2005, in St. Maarten, after suffering from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

. At the time of his death he was insolvent due to a divorce settlement and a judgment related to litigation over the copyrights to several of the songs he wrote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Jerry Lynn 1948 births 2005 deaths Musicians from Dallas 20th-century American singers Singer-songwriters from Texas