Musician. He is best remembered as a member of the 1960s family pop group The Cowsills. Born in Newport, Rhode Island, Bill and his three brothers, Barry, Bob, and John, formed The Cowsills band in 1965. Bill played the guitar, Bob the guitar and organ, Barry played the bass guitar, and John played the drums. Inspired by the Beatles, the Cowsills developed their own music style, playing at school dances and churches in and around Newport, Rhode Island. Their parents, Barbara and William “Bud” Cowsill, encouraged them, and father Bud Cowsill managed the group. Brothers Dick and Paul became the group’s Road Managers. They soon landed a regular weekend job at a local club, Bannisters Wharf, and in 1967, recorded the single “All I Really Wanta Be is Me.” The record generated little interest, but after an appearance on NBC’s Today Show, they group signed with Mercury Records. Of their records for Mercury, their song “Party Girl” is the best known. When MGM Records signed them, they quickly became popular throughout the United States, and their biggest hit, “The Rain, the Park, and Other Things,” with Bill as lead-singer, quickly reached No. 2 on the pop charts, selling over a million copies. In the mid 1960s, mom Barbara, sister Susan and brother Paul joined the singing group. In 1969, they had another No. 2 hit with “Hair” from the rock musical of the same name. In 1969, they released their first long-play record, “We Can Fly,” which was quickly followed by several other LPs, “Captain Sad” and “Best of the Cowsills.” In each of their songs, they would rotate who would be lead-singer, Bill sang “Monday, Monday” for example. After several television specials, the group was approached by CBS to do a weekly television series. However, they declined, and CBS created the Partridge Family based upon the Cowsills. In 1971, the band broke up, to pursue their own various interests. After the breakup, the Cowsills produced two more albums, without Bill. Bill went to Canada and continued his recording, producing and songwriting in the music industry. In the 1980s, he toured Canada with the band, Blue Northern, and then led his own band, The Billy Cowsill Band, playing traditional country songs. In the 1990s, Bill formed a new band, The Blue Shadows, under the name Billy “Bud” Cowsill, and produced an album, “On the Floor of Heaven” in 1993, and a second album, “Lucky to Me,” released in 1995. The band broke up in December 1996, and in his later years, Bill suffered a hip replacement, back surgery, emphysema, osteoporosis and Cushing Syndrome. His brother Paul reported that he also had a history of problems with drugs and alcohol. Bill passed away at his home in Calgary, Canada, from unspecified causes.