Bill Sims Jr. (June 23, 1949 – February 2, 2019) was an Americanblues musician.^[1]

He was born and grew up inMarion, Ohio, United States,^[2] and began playingpiano at the age of four. At age 14, he turned professional and joined therhythm and blues band the Jacksonian Blues, which he left to attendOhio State University.

In 1971, Sims joined another rhythm and blues group, thedoo-wop-influenced Four Mints. He left the band in 1976 to form the Lamorians, anavant-garde jazz band influenced by traditionalAfrican drumming. In 1988, he returned to the blues, founding Bill Sims and the Cold Blooded Blues Band. He released his debut album,Blues Before Sunrise, in 1992, and in 1999,PBS did a 10-hourdocumentary on Sims and hisinterracial family (with Sims's partner Karen Wilson).^[3] Sims released another album to coincide with this broadcast.

Bill Sims Jr. died on February 2, 2019, at the age of 69.^[4][5]

• Blues Before Sunrise (1992)
• Bill Sims (1999)
• Bill on Bob (2016)

• Official website
• Bill Sims discography atDiscogs

• 1949 births
• 2019 deaths
• Songwriters from Ohio
• American blues singers
• American blues pianists
• American male pianists
• Ohio State University alumni
• People from Marion, Ohio
• 21st-century American pianists
• African-American male songwriters
• African-American pianists
• 21st-century African-American male singers
• 21st-century American male singers
• 20th-century African-American male singers
• 20th-century American male singers
• 20th-century American singers

• CS1 French-language sources (fr)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles with hCards
• Official website not in Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from May 2016