William Henry Webb Jr. (1905 - 1939)

Born 10 Feb 1905 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

Died 16 Jun 1939 at age 34 in Baltimore, Maryland, United States

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Biography

William was born in 1905.

Famous Big Band drummer and band leader.

From an early age, he suffered from tuberculosis of the spine which caused damage to it and caused his body to be truncated. His disease ultimately led to his untimely death in 1939. He was mourned by both fans and fellow musicians.

Research Notes

For years Webb's birthdate was questioned. He himself claimed he was born in 1909, but there were estimations from 1896, 1902, 1903 and 1907 as his birth year.

Jazz researcher George A Borgman who was also a contributing editor for the jazz journal The Mississippi Rag questioned the validity of the mostly accepted birth year of 1909 and asked me, his son, to look into it.

After finding his family in the 1910 and 1920 Maryland census records, it became clear that 1905 was the correct year for Webb's birth. The month seemed most likely correct, so February 10, 1905, has become accepted by some encyclopedias and jazz writers, although sometimes 1909 is still used as that is what made it to his cemetery stone which was added years many after his death.

Sources

• https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chick-Webb