16-year-old Billy Preston met the not-yet-famous Beatles when he played for Little Richard while they toured Hamburg in 1962. He befriended the young, impoverished band by sneaking them food and drinks. Later in the ’60s, this led to Billy playing on The Beatles’ LET IT BE and ABBEY ROAD albums as a credited musician, and performing with the Beatles in their last live performance as a group – the famous Roof Top concert. The Grammy Award-winning artist enjoyed an illustrious solo career including several number one solo hits, and worked with the Rolling Stones, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Nat King Cole, Sly Stone, Barbra Streisand, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Aretha Franklin and Mahalia Jackson just to name a few. Billy also had a lifelong devotion to gospel music.
Despite his preternatural talent which earned him a place on stage beside the biggest names in 20th century musical history, Billy had a challenging personal story. Only later in life did he come to terms with his truth and so find his peace.
The film explores Preston’s towering musical accomplishments, matched by his triumphant personal journey to self-love and acceptance. His story is a stark reminder of how far we’ve come as a society, and how far we still must go.