Billy Lyall |
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| Birth name | William Lyall |
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| Born | (1953-03-26)26 March 1953
Edinburgh, Scotland |
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| Died | 1 December 1989(1989-12-01) (aged 36) |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer, musician |
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| Instrument(s) | Vocals and keyboards |
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| Years active | 1969–1989 |
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Musical artist
William Lyall (26 March 1953 – 1 December 1989) was a Scottish musician, known for his work with Pilot, The Alan Parsons Project, and the Bay City Rollers.
Biography
Career
Born in Edinburgh, Scotland, Lyall was a singer, keyboard player and flautist with Pilot, and co-wrote "Magic", Pilot's 1974 hit single.
He contributed to the Alan Parsons Project with fellow Pilot members, and he was an early member of the Bay City Rollers. He was the keyboard player for Dollar between 1978 and 1982.
He left Pilot in early 1976, and released a solo album, Solo Casting, later that year. In 1979, he contributed string arrangements and synthesizers to an album by the band Runner.[1]
Personal life and death
Lyall moved to London in the early 1970s and lived in a red-brick mansion flat in Fitzjames Avenue, West Kensington. He died during the AIDS pandemic in 1989, at the age of 36.[2] Bay City Rollers' manager Tam Paton later said that Lyall was gay.[3]
