In November 2026 Demon Music will mark the 90th birthday of the legendary Bill Wyman with a new ‘Best Of’ celebrating his solo recordings with 20 tracks from 1974’s ‘Monkey Grip’ up to ‘Drive My Car’ in 2024. A second CD of a further 20 tracks is devoted to original songs and cover versions recorded with his star-studded ‘side project’, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings.

Taking time out from his day job as bass player in “the world’s greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll band”, Bill released his first solo collection of self-written songs in May 1974, with collaborators including Dr. John, Leon Russell, Little Feat’s Lowell George, and Crosby, Stills & Nash drummer, Dallas Taylor. And while Bill would adapt his style to suit his changing tastes, and revel in the opportunity to try out new technology – the early ’80s saw him land two UK Top 40 hits with ‘(Si Si) Je Suis Un Rock Star’, and ‘A New Fashion’ –  this way of working set a pattern for five more solo albums that gave him an outlet for his individual approach to songwriting, and to work with a cast of friends and heroes that featured Van Morrison, Joe Walsh, Chris Rea, Ray Cooper, Robbie McIntosh and Guy Fletcher, among many others.

Never totally comfortable in the spotlight, in the ’90s Bill started to assemble “my own band”, The Rhythm Kings, a group he described as “almost like doing solo albums (but) with a lot of friends.” Combining more of Bill’s original songs with classics from the R&B and Rock ‘n’ Roll songbooks, what began as another studio project became a hugely successful and popular live act – Bill takes immense pride in the fact he played almost the same number of gigs with the Rhythm Kings as with the Rolling Stones in the previous three decades. And while this ensemble would coalesce around a more settled cast of talents such as Georgie Fame, Procol Harum’s Gary Brooker, Amen Corner’s Andy Fairweather-Low, Ten Years After’s Albert Lee, and singer Beverley Skeete, their recordings still found room for guest appearances from friends like Eric Clapton, George Harrison, and Mark Knopfler.

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