“Everybody Plays the Fool” Grammy-Winning Songwriter Ken Williams Dies at 83

Ken Williams, the songwriter who transitioned from singing with his U.S. Air Force group in the 1960s to becoming a sought-after R&B songwriter, writing hits for artists like The Four Tops and Peaches & Herb and more, including The Main Ingredient hit “Everybody Plays the Fool,” died on June 17 after battling a non-COVID-related illness. He was 83.

The songwriter died at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York, according to his wife Broadway actress and singer Mary Seymour Williams.

Williams, along with Rudy Clark, and J.R. Bailey wrote “Everybody Plays the Fool,” first recorded by The Main Ingredient in 1972 for their album Bitter Sweet. The song was later covered by a number of artists, including Aaron Neville, who released his version in 1991, which reached No. 8 on the Hot 100 chart.

Born on January 13, 1939, in Fernandina Beach, Florida, Williams started learning music while performing in his high school band and played his first show at a Jacksonville, Florida talent show, where he sang Roy Hamilton‘s 1963 hit “You’ll Never Walk Alone.”

Williams later joined the group the Chuck-A-Lucks while he was in the Air Force and stationed in Great Falls, Montana. The group was even set to appear on The Ed Sullivan Show but was forced to return to the base before they could go on. “Talk about a hurt group,” said Williams in a 2018 interview. “But you can’t win ’em all.”

Though he enjoyed performing, it was songwriting that pulled Williams deeper into music. After serving in the Air Force, Williams moved to New York City and began playing jazz clubs and connecting with the music industry. In 1968, Williams founded the publishing company called A Dish-A-Tunes LLC, which owns more than 500 songs.

Williams started writing songs for the pop duo Peaches & Herb, including their hits “For Your Love,” “Love Is Strange,” “Two Little Kids,” and “We’ve Got to Love One Another,” and went on to work with dozens of other artists like The Four Tops on their 1975 song “Seven Lonely Nights” and Donny Hathaway’s “Love, Love, Love” in 1973, in addition to writing The Impalas’ “I Can’t See Me Without You,” “Only When You’re Lonely” by Holly Maxwell, “Keep On Holding On” by Margaret Reynolds and Sandra Phillips’ “Hoping You Will Come Back.”

“Mine just kind of happen,” said Williams of his songs. “Some writers can say, ‘OK, we’re going to sit down and write three or four songs a day.’ Mine don’t work that way. I’m not a robot. I’ve got to feel it and get that flow.”

In 2003, Alicia Keys sampled “Let Me Prove My Love to You,” a song Williams co-wrote for The Main Ingredient in 1975. The song was used on the track “You Don’t Know My Name,” which was produced by Kanye West for Keys’ album The Diary of Alicia Keys and earned Williams his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Song.

Williams is survived by his wife Mary, his sister, Dorothy Jones, sons Kenny Williams Jr., Kevin D. Williams and Kalvin Williams, daughter Cheryl Nicholson, god-sister Olivia Goldsmith, and stepson Kenny J. Seymour.