Roger Williams (October 1, 1924 – October 8, 2011), born Louis Jacob Weertz, w… Read Full Bio ↴Roger Williams (October 1, 1924 – October 8, 2011), born Louis Jacob Weertz, was an American popular music pianist. As of 2004, he had released 116 albums.

He was born to a Lutheran minister, the Rev. Frederick J. Weertz (1891–1980) and a music teacher, Dorothea Bang Weertz (1895–1985), in Omaha, Nebraska. The family moved to Des Moines, Iowa, before his first birthday. He first played the piano at age three. In high school he became interested in boxing, mainly at his father's insistence, and only returned to music after breaking his nose several times and sustaining several other injuries.

He majored in piano at Drake University in Des Moines, but claimed he was expelled for playing "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" in the practice room. Weertz entered the United States Navy and served in World War II. While still in the Navy, he earned a bachelor's degree from Idaho State College (now Idaho State University) in 1950. Afterwards, Weertz re-enrolled at Drake, where he earned his master's degree. He then moved to New York City to attend Juilliard, where he studied jazz piano under Lennie Tristano and Teddy Wilson.

Williams won a talent contest on Dennis James' television program, Chance of a Lifetime. He was heard by David Kapp, founder of Kapp Records. Kapp was so impressed that he signed the pianist, changing his name to "Roger Williams" after the founder of Rhode Island.

In 1955 Williams recorded "Autumn Leaves", the only piano instrumental to reach #1 on Billboard's popular music chart. It sold over two million copies, and was awarded a gold disc. It was the fourth #1 song of the "rock era," which unofficially began with the ascension of "(We're Gonna) Rock Around The Clock" by Bill Haley & His Comets into the top spot. In 1966 he had another Top Ten hit with the song "Born Free" from the motion picture soundtrack. His other hits include "Near You", "Till", "The Impossible Dream", "Yellow Bird", "Maria", and "The Theme from Somewhere in Time". Billboard magazine ranks him as the top selling piano recording artist in history with 18 gold and platinum albums to his credit. Williams was known as the "Pianist to the Presidents" having played for nine administrations beginning with Harry S. Truman. His last White House performance was in November 2008 for a luncheon hosted by First Lady Laura Bush.

His interest in the public stems from a boyhood experience in Des Moines, Iowa. After a piano concert by the Polish genius Ignacy Jan Paderewski, young Roger waited for 45 minutes outside in the freezing cold to meet his idol. When the pianist finally appeared it was to rush to a waiting automobile. "I didn't even get near enough to touch him or get an autograph," says Williams. "It was then and there I resolved that if ever I became famous I would never disappoint anyone who wanted to talk to me."

On his 75th birthday, Williams performed his first 12-hour piano marathon. He performed the marathon at Steinway Hall in New York City and the Nixon, Carter and Reagan Presidential Libraries. His Steinway & Sons "Gold Steinway" grand piano was on tour for public display and entertainment during 2007–2008.
In 2010 Roger Williams was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. At that time, "Autumn Leaves" was the best-selling piano solo record of all time and the only one ever to top the Billboard charts.

In March 2011 Williams posted on his website that he had pancreatic cancer and that his doctors had told him they could not remove the tumor until chemotherapy shrunk it to an operable size. Williams said that he did not plan on canceling any upcoming concerts. He wrote: "What does it all mean? It means I'm in just one more fight — the fight for my life.. And this much I know, this old Navy boxing champion is going for broke. Just watch me!"

Williams died on October 8, 2011, one week after his 87th birthday.

It's Now or Never
Roger Williams Lyrics

We have lyrics for 'It's Now or Never' by these artists:

Ben I remember other days how I used to weep Over…
Captain G.Q. - Hello - Hi, it's me - What you want? - I just…
Chris Isaak It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
Chris Spedding & Robert Gordon It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Connie Smith It's now or never come hold me tight kiss me…
Curtis Holbrook It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me, my…
Curtis Holbrook Nikki M. James Michael X. Martin Ensemble It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me, my…
David and The High Spirit There, she's walking right there Next to some other guy And …
Dr. Ammondt In this Game of Life, I'm a long-time Contender Your Crown's…

Eddie Peregrina It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
El Vez It's now or never, come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, …
Elvis It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Elvis Presley The Jordanaires It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
Elvis Presley & Royal Philharmonic Orchestra It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Elvis Presley & The Jordanaires It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
Elvis Presley ( with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra) It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Elvis Presley and the Jordanaires It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
Elvis Presley feat. Royal Philharmonic Orchestra It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Elvis Presley The Jordanaires It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
Elvis Presley With The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, …
Elvis Presley(엘비스 프레슬리) It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
EnsembleCurtis HolbrookeNikki M. James It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me, my…
Foster & Allen It all comes back to me now, A starry summer…
Guylaine Tanguay It′s now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Jimmy London It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
João Suplicy It's now or never, come hold me tight Kiss me my…
John Schneider Its now or never; Come hold me tight. Kiss me,…
K-RA & ERA feat. TEIXI It's over now, it's over now I lost it all I bet…
Make Me Famous Hey! Go. lose your fear and show your rage Raise your fist…
Nikki M. James Ain't it funky now? Ain't it funky now? Ain't it funky now? …
Nikki M. James Ensemble & Curtis Holbrooke It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me, my…
Pino Daniele It's now or never, come hold me tight Kiss me my…
Robert Gordon & Chris Spedding It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
Rock-Olga It's in the air yeah Gotta give it a chair yeah I…
The Jordanaires It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
The Magic Time Travelers It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling, Be…
The Van-Dells I toss, I turn, I weep It's taking over me I don't…
Tim Barton & Friends The blood that Jesus shed for me Way back on Calvary The…
Tony Evans And His Orchestra Who's the one I'm glad to see? She never keeps me…
Various Artists Sixteen, sixteen minutes left better get it done! Sixteen, s…
Victor Wood It's now or never, Come hold me tight Kiss me my darlin…
♪♫ Elvis Presley It's now or never Come hold me tight Kiss me my darling Be…
エルヴィス・プレスリー & The Jordanaires It's Now Or Never Performer：Elvis Presley & The Jordanaire…

We have lyrics for these tracks by Roger Williams:

All The Way When somebody loves you It's no good unless he loves you,…
An Affair To Remember Our love affair is a wondrous thing That we'll rejoice in…
April Love April love is for the very young Every star's a wishing…
Arrivederci Roma Arrivederci Roma Goodbye, goodbye to Rome City of a million …
Autumn Leaves The falling leaves drift by the window The autumn leaves of…
Beauty and the Beast Tale as old as time True as it can be Barely even…
Blue Moon Blue moon you saw me standing alone Without a dream in…
Blues In The Night Strangers in the night, Exchanging glances Wandering the ni…
Born Free Born free, as free as the wind blows As free as…
Canadian Sunset Once I was alone So lonely and then You came, out of…
Deep Purple Woo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo When the…
Dream A Little Dream Of Me Stars shining bright above you Night breezes seem to whisper…
Embraceable You Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you! Embrace me, you irrepl…
For Once In My Life For once in my life I have someone who needs…
Girl from Ipanema Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from Ipanema…
Hello Hello, I love you Won't you tell me your name?…
Hey Jude Hey Jude, don't make it bad Take a sad song and…
Hi-Lili Hi-Lo On every tree there sits a bird, singing a song…
High Noon Do not forsake me, oh my darlin' On this, our weddin'…
I Just Called to Say I Love You No New Year's Day to celebrate No chocolate covered candy he…
I Left My Heart In San Francisco I left my heart in San Francisco. High on a hill…
I Love Paris I'm in the mood for love Simply because you're near me. Funn…
I'll Be Seeing You I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places That…
I'm in the Mood for Love I'm in the mood for love Simply because you're near me. Funn…
Ill Be Seeing You I'll be seeing you in all the old familiar places That…
Love Is A Many Splendored Thing Love is a many splendored thing It's the April rose that…
Love Me Forever Love me, love me forever Take me, make me be true Love…
Misirlou Desert shadows creep across purple sands. Natives kneel in p…
Misty Look at me I'm as helpless as a kitten up a…
Mona Lisa Mona Lisa, Mona Lisa men have named you You're so like…
More Each time I look at you is like the first…
My Reverie Our love is a dream, but in my reverie I can…
Near You There's just one place for me, near you It's like heaven…
Never My Love The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an…
Never On A sunday Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday A Monday, a…
O Little Town Of Bethlehem Oh little town of Bethlehem, how still we see thee…
Oh My Papa Do not forsake me, oh my darlin' On this, our weddin'…
Rainy Days And Mondays Talkin' to myself and feelin' old Sometimes I'd like to quit…
Santa Claus Is Coming to Town I just came back from a lovely trip along the…
Saving All My Love for You A few stolen moments is all that we share You've got…
September Song Oh, it's a long, long while from May to December But…
Singin' In The Rain I'm singin' in the rain, just singin' in the rain What…
Softly As I Leave You Softly I will leave you softly For my heart would…
Some Enchanted Evening Some enchanted evening, you may see a stranger, You may see…
Somewhere In Time if love will be true, i'll be there for you. somewhere…
Somewhere my Love The very thought of you makes my heart sing Like an…
Spanish Eyes Blue Spanish eyes Teardrops are falling from your Spanish ey…
Spanish Eyes/Them From Love Story Blue Spanish eyes Teardrops are falling from your Spanish e…
St. Louis Blues I hate to see that evening sun go down I hate…
Stairway To The Stars Let's build a stairway to the stars And climb that stairway…
Star Dust And now the purple dusk of twilight time Steals across the…
Stranger In Paradise Strangers in the night, Exchanging glances Wandering the ni…
Temptation You came, I was alone I should have known you were…
The Christmas Song Chestnuts roasting on an open fire Jack Frost nipping at you…
The Girl from Ipanema Tall and tan and young and lovely The girl from Ipanema…
The Green Leaves Of Summer A time to be reapin', a time to be sowin'. The…
The Impossible Dream Born free, as free as the wind blows As free as…
The Nearness of You Its not the pale moon that excites me That thrills and…
The Shadow Of Your Smile The shadow of your smile When you have gone Will color all…
The Way We Were Memories light the corners of my mind Misty water-colored me…
The Windmills Of Your Mind Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel…
The World Outside The world outside Belongs to me Since you are mine I rule th…
Theme From New York New York Start spreading the news I'm leaving today I want to be a…
Till Till the moon deserts the sky Till all the seas run…
Volare Sometimes the world is a valley of heartaches and tears And…
Way We Were Memories light the corners of my mind Misty water-colored me…
What A Wonderful World I see trees of green, red roses too I watch them…
Windmills Of Your Mind Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel…

You'll Never Walk Alone Aming Diyos kay buti mo Mula pa noon hanggang ngayon At sa…

The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos

TRACKS