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This is a very rare performance of Billy Preston with his mother Robbie and sister Rodena in the Toppop studio, performing Billy’s composition ‘Christmas with the family’. This was released as a single in the Netherlands only! Billy (William Everett) Preston, born on September 2, 1946 and deceased on June 6, 2006, was an American musician whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, during which he backed artists such as Little Richard, Sam Cooke, Ray Charles, Rev. James Cleveland and The Beatles. He went on to achieve fame as a solo artist, with hit singles such as “That’s the Way God Planned It“, the Grammy-winning “Outa-Space“, “Will It Go Round in Circles“, “Space Race“, “Nothing from Nothing“ and “With You I’m Born Again“. Billy Preston is accompanied by his sister Rodena, who was a beloved gospel singer in her time. Known throughout the industry as an exceptional pianist, director and arranger, Rodena was child prodigy who grew up to work closely with the late Rev. James Cleveland and many other gospel greats. She also organized the award-winning Voices of Deliverance that released five albums in the 1970s. She passed away on 15 September 2017. Billy and Rodena’s mother, Robbie Preston Williams joins her children in this Christmas song, an exclusive recording of AVRO’s Toppop in the studio in Hilversum, the Netherlands on 22 December 1985 Watch our great music videos ❯ More TopPop? Subscribe here ❯ More info on Wikipedia ❯ Broadcast date: 22 December 1985 This is to let you know that the video recording of the video clip was originally recorded by AVROTROS Broadcasting. AVROTROS Broadcasting hereby warrants and represents that it is the sole and exclusive owner of the physical film and/or videotape footage in this video clip. The performance of the artist(s) in the clip was filmed and recorded with the written consent of the artist(s) and their representatives. AVROTROS is a Dutch radio and television broadcaster, founded in 2014 from a merger of AVRO and TROS. From January 1st, 2014 the name of the merged broadcaster was used in joint programmes. AVRO was founded in 1923 as the Netherlands first public broadcaster. TROS started broadcasting in 1964. Toppop was a weekly AVRO pop program that was aired between 1970 and 1988. AVROTROS Broadcasting PO Box 2 1200 JA Hilversum The Netherlands TopPop was the first regular dedicated pop music TV show in the Dutch language area. Dutch broadcaster AVRO aired the programme weekly, from 1970 to 1988. Presenter Ad Visser hosted the show for its first fifteen years. World famous music artists performed on TopPop: ABBA, 10CC, Bee Gees, The Jacksons, David Bowie, Earth & Fire, Boney M, Smokie, KC & The Sunshine Band, Chick, Donna Summer, Rod Stewart, and many many more.
