The Legendary James 'Diamond' Williams of The OHIO PLAYERS

The Ohio Players came into musical prominence in the 1970’s as pioneers of street funk and underground R&B. After signing with Mercury Records in 1974 they landed three consecutive platinum albums “Skin Tight, “Fire”, and “Honey”. Two number one singles on the billboard pop charts “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster” and five number one R&B singles “Funky Worm”,”Fire”,”Sweet Sticky Thing”, “Love Rollercoaster,” and “Who’d She Coo”. The Players traveled the world, produced more than a dozen albums and received 14 gold and platinum awards for their labors. They also appeared on all the late night shows from Dick Clark to David Letterman. 

The band is keeping it funky with 10 members, 4 of which are original Players. James “Diamond” Williams (Drums), Billy Beck (Keyboard), Clarence Willis (Lead Guitar) and Robert Kuumba,(Percussion). Recently, they appeared n Louisville Ky. Fourth of July with a crowd of over 40,000 people in Washington D.C. at the Carter Barron, several Casinos, and the Indianapolis 500 with over 300,000 in attendance.

 The Ohio Players use real instrumentation and no computers .