Musicians, Fans Mourn Loss Of Leon Russell

Celebrities, musicians and fans around the world are remembering Leon Russell. The Oklahoma native died in his sleep at age 74 at his home in Nashville. 

A top session player in the 1960s and '70s, Russell had a successful solo career with hits like "Tight Rope" and "Lady Blue." 

In a 1992 interview with The Associated Press, Russell said music doesn’t really change much.

“It’s cyclical, like fashion. You keep your old clothes and they’ll be in style again sooner or later.

“There are new things, like rap. But that’s a rebirth of poetry. It’s brought poetry to the public consciousness.”

11/13/2016 Related Story: Leon Russell Dies At Age 74

In 2011, Russell was chosen for induction into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He also was honored with an Award for Music Excellence from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

He and Elton John released “The Union,” a critically received duo album in 2010.

Russell, born in Lawton, Oklahoma, began as a night club piano player in Oklahoma at the age of 14, also backing touring artists when they came to town. Jerry Lee Lewis was so impressed with Russell that he hired Russell and his band for two years of tours.

He relocated to Los Angeles in 1959, where he became known as a top musician, and later to Nashville.

In the early 2000s he began his own record label, Leon Russell Records.

Here are just a few of the memorials posted about Russell: