John B.
Williams, an American double bassist and bass guitarist known for his work on The Tonight Show and The Arsenio Hall Show, died on June 4, 2026, at age 85. Also known as John B.
Williams Jr., he was born in The Bronx on February 27, 1941, and built a career in jazz as a musician and double-bassist. After studying percussion and later switching to bass during his service in the United States Marine Corps, he studied under Ron Carter before joining Horace Silver’s group in 1967. Williams went on to perform and record widely in the late 1960s and early 1970s with artists including Mose Allison, Roy Ayers, Count Basie, Kenny Burrell and Dizzy Gillespie. He joined the band of The Tonight Show in 1972 and later returned to house-band work with Michael Wolff on The Arsenio Hall Show from 1989 to 1993.