Bill Evans Bio, Wiki, Age, Death, Wife & Net Worth

Today we are going to talk about the most famous Jazz pianists of the 20th century who revolutionized Jazz. The star is no more between us but due to his legendary contribution towards music, he is still in the heart of many people all around the globe. The star is none other than Bill Evans.

Evans was an avid reader of relished philosophy and humorous books. Similarly, Bill liked painting and drawing in his leisure time. Let’s get into the article of Evans biography to know what was the reason behind his death, who was his wife and so on. Until then stay tuned to us.

Who is Bill Evans? His Bio & Wiki

Bill Evans was born on August 16, 1929, in Plainfield, New Jersey, the U.S. His father was Harry Evans and mother was Mary Evans. Evans father belonged to Welsh descent while his mother was of Ukrainian ancestry making him of mixed ethnicity. As for siblings, the star was two years younger than his brother Harold Evans, with whom he maintained a very cordial relationship.

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For studies, he attended Southeastern Louisiana University on a flute scholarship, where he received a comprehensive knowledge of classical piano interpretation. Evans also led the fraternity’s football team to a league championship as a quartet. The star was very keen when it came to music and its composition which lead him to began his piano lessons along with his elder brother at Somerville, and also studied violin, piccolo, and flute just at the age of six.

Bill Evans’s Professional Life

In his high-school days, Bill got introduced to 20th-century music. Around this time, Evans got his first exposure to jazz and also started playing in a high-school band. While he was in a university, Bill composed his first tune, Very Early and became a founding member of American collegiate musical fraternity, Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia in 1949. Soon after that, he formed his first trio with his friends, Connie Atkinson on bass and Frank Robell on drums.

In 1950, Bill graduated with high honors as a piano major receiving the Bachelor’s degree in music education. The star performed Beethoven’s piano concerto number 3 for his senior recital. The same year, he formed a trio with guitarist Mundell Lowe and bassist Red Mitchell and relocated to New York. At this point, he had quite a number of fans in his name.

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In September 1956, Evans recorded his debut album, New Jazz Conceptions, featuring the original versions of Waltz for Debby, and Five. Moreover, three albums were produced in a short span of time including Explorations, Oliver Nelson’s The blues and the abstract truth, Sunday at the village vanguard and Waltz for Debby in 1961.

Throughout his career, Evans got associated with various bands and bands member, however, in 1968, drummer Marty Morell joined the trio and remained in the band until his retirement in 1975. This was Bills’s most stable and longest-lasting group.

Who was Bill Evans’s Wife?

Just like his very struggle full professional life, Evans also had quite a scandalous love life. Bill was a married man when he died. The star married Nenette Zazzara in 1973. The duo fell in love with Zazzara while working in Redondo Beach, California. While he was being attracted towards Nenette the star was in a long term relationship with Ellaine Schultz.

When Bill broke the news to Ellaine, she pretended to understand, but then committed suicide by throwing herself under a subway train. Evans’s relatives believe that Ellaine’s infertility, coupled with Bill’s desire to have a son, may have influenced him to cheat on Ellaine.

In August 1973, Bill married Nenette, and, in 1975, they had a child, Evan Evans. The new family included Evans’s stepdaughter Maxine. They lived in a large house in Closter, New Jersey. The duo remained married couple until his last breath. 

yet, in April 1979, Evans met Canadian waitress named Laurie Verchomin, with whom he had a relationship. Although he was a married man he remained in a relationship with Verchomin until his death. Laurie was 28 years younger than Evans.

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Bill Evans’s Addiction

Bill’s one of the band member died at age 25, in a car accident, ten days after the Vanguard performances, which badly devastated Evans. Evans did not record or perform in public again for several months after his pal’s death. Due to the failing of his career and loss of his dear friend, Evans’s got heroin-addicted in the late 1950s.

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At that time, his girlfriend Ellaine was also a drug addict. Bill habitually had to borrow money from friends, and eventually, his electricity and telephone services were shut down. Evans once said, “You don’t understand. It’s like death and transfiguration. Every day you wake in pain like death and then you go out and score, and that is transfiguration. Each day becomes all of life in microcosm.” However, Evans never allowed heroin to interfere with his musical discipline.

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In summer 1963, Evans and his girlfriend Ellaine left their flat in New York and settled in his parents’ home in Florida to escape all the negativism. At that time, his girlfriend Ellaine meant everything to Bill and was the only person with whom he felt genuine comfort around. Slowly, Evans started to sober up and focused on his career. The star went back on heroin for a while, then got into a methadone treatment program after the tragic death of his ex-girlfriend. He then became addicted to cocaine. Eans started with one gram per weekend but later started taking several grams daily.

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Bill Evans’s Death

Evans brother Harry’s suicide influenced his emotional state after 1979. It has been documented that he voluntarily quit his treatment for chronic hepatitis after his brother’s death. Laurie Verchomin has claimed that Bill was clear in mind that he would die in a short time.

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On September 15, 1980, Evans, who had been in bed for several days with stomach pains at his home in Fort Lee, was accompanied by Joe LaBarbera and Verchomin to the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, where he died the same afternoon. The cause of Bill’s death was a combination of peptic ulcer, cirrhosis, bronchial pneumonia, and untreated hepatitis.

How much was Bill Evans’s Net Worth?

There are no exact details about Evans net worth as he never talks ed about his properties while he was alive with the media. Although, he never revealed the details about his earning and net worth looking at the success he got from his short-lived career we can easily say his net worth was in million. His net worth was inherited by his wife after his death.