Grammy Award-winning piano player George Winston has passed away at the age of 74 following a long battle with cancer. He died on June 4 in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Videos by American Songwriter
Over the past decade, Winston has had various forms of cancer such as thyroid, skin and a rare type of blood cancer known as Myelodysplastic syndrome. His death was confirmed via his website.
“We are deeply saddened to share the news that George Winston has passed on after a 10-year battle with cancer,” his bio page states. “George quietly and painlessly left this world while asleep on Sunday, June 4, 2023.”
The bio claims that Winston had a bone marrow transplant in 2013 that “extended his life by 10 years.”
An active musician since the 1970s, Winston was known for his various styles of piano playing including his signature “rural folk piano” and New Orleans R&B. Over his career, Winston released 20 studio albums, 16 of which were solo, the last being Night in May 2022. He was nominated for five Grammy Awards, including Best Recording For Children for The Velveteen Rabbit (Album), which was narrated by Meryl Streep in 1986. He won a Grammy for Best New Age Album for Forest at the 1996 ceremony.
According to his bio, Winston has sold more than 15 million albums worldwide and was raised across the U.S. from Montana to Mississippi to Florida. He channeled his experience with cancer into the innovative 2017 album, Spring Carousel: A Cancer Research Benefit, which featured 15 compositions he wrote on the piano at City of Hope where he received treatment for Myelodysplastic syndrome.
Alongside the music, Winston was also engaged in philanthropic efforts such as raising money and performing benefit concerts for Feeding America. His family will hold a private memorial service. In lieu of flowers or gifts, the family is asking that fans make donations to organizations close to Winston’s heart: Feeding America, City of Hope Cancer Center and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Photo by Jason Davis/Getty Images for NAMM
