Billy Lyall
{{EngvarB|date=November 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Billy Lyall
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = William Lyall
| othername =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1953|3|26}}
| birth_place = Edinburgh, Scotland
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1989|12|1|1953|3|26|df=yes}}
| death place =
| instrument = Vocals and keyboards
| occupation = Singer, musician
| years_active = 1969–1989
| past_member_of = Pilot, Bay City Rollers, the Alan Parsons Project
}}
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 =
{{Main|Pilot (Scottish band)}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/runner-mw0000846015/credits |title=Runner - Runner | Credits |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=9 January 2016}}
= Personal life and death =
Lyall moved to London in the early 1970s and lived in a red-brick mansion flat on Fitzjames Avenue, West Kensington. He died during the AIDS pandemic in 1989, at the age of 36.{{cite magazine |first=Jaan |last=Uhelszki |title=Courtney to Get Behind the Camera |date=25 October 1999 |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5923063/courtney_to_get_behind_the_camera/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002015702/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5923063/courtney_to_get_behind_the_camera/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 October 2007 |magazine=Rolling Stone |accessdate=4 October 2006 }} Bay City Rollers' manager Tam Paton later acknowledged that Lyall was gay.{{cite web |title=Tam Paton Spills The Heinz Baked Beans! |url=http://www.spencemusic.co.uk/bilbomusic/articles/Tam/spilledbeans.htm |first=Hannes A. |last=Jonsson |date=23 January 2000 |accessdate=14 October 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160910180745/http://www.spencemusic.co.uk/bilbomusic/articles/Tam/spilledbeans.htm |archive-date=10 September 2016 |url-status=dead }}
Discography
= With [[Pilot (Scottish band)|Pilot]] =
== Albums ==
| class="wikitable"
!Year !Album |
| 1974 |
| 1975
|Second Flight |
| 1976
|Morin Heights |
| 1977
|Two's a Crowd |
== Singles ==
= With [[Dollar (band)|Dollar]] =
== Studio albums ==
| class="wikitable"
!Title !Album details |
| Shooting Stars
| |
|---|
| The Paris Collection
|
|
| The Dollar Album
|
|
== Singles ==
| class="wikitable"
!Title !Year |
| "Shooting Star"
|1978 |
|---|
| "Who Were You With in the Moonlight"
| rowspan="3" |1979 |
| "Love's Gotta Hold on Me" |
| "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" |
| "Love Street"
| rowspan="3" |1980 |
| "The Girls Are Out to Get Ya" |
| "Takin' a Chance on You" |
| "You Take My Breath Away"
| rowspan="3" |1981 |
| "Hand Held in Black and White" |
| "Mirror Mirror (Mon Amour)" |
| "Ring Ring"
| rowspan="6" |1982 |
| "Tokyo" (Japan-only release) |
| "Give Me Back My Heart" |
| "Videotheque" |
| "Give Me Some Kinda Magic" |
| "Two Hearts" (Japan-only release) |
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Bay City Rollers}}
{{Pilot}}{{The Alan Parsons Project}}{{Dollar (band)}}{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyall, Billy}}
Category:Scottish keyboardists
Category:20th-century Scottish male singers
Category:Musicians from Edinburgh
Category:Bay City Rollers members
Category:AIDS-related deaths in the United Kingdom
Category:Scottish LGBTQ singers
Category:20th-century Scottish LGBTQ people
Category:20th-century British flautists
Category:Scottish gay musicians
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