William Royce Scaggs was born June 8, 1944, in Ohio. An early lover of music, he learned the cello at 9 and later joined St. Mark's Academy in Dallas, where fellow classmate Steve Miller taught him the guitar. The pair became inseparable, performing in various groups together throughout the early 1960s until going their separate ways after graduating. They reunited in 1967, after Miller invited Scaggs to join The Steve Miller Band, where he stayed on for two albums. The 1970s proved to be a successful decade for the blue-eyed soul artist, with a Grammy and a series of successful solo albums. After a short hiatus, the guitarist was back in the spotlight in 1988, and has released a string of albums since. His recent discography boasts 2008's critically acclaimed Speak Low and 2013's country-flavoured Memphis.