Bill Cunningham's Chart

American musician best known as the original bass guitarist and keyboardist for the Box Tops. He remained a member of the band until August 1969, when he decided to return to school to get a music degree in performance of the upright bass. Though Cunningham virtually vanished from the pop music scene after he left the Box Tops, he rose in the ranks of classical musicians, playing in many symphony orchestras (including the Memphis Symphony) and in ballet and opera companies while attending university. In 1996, Cunningham played the principal role in reforming the original Box Tops. He played bass and shared responsibility for keyboard parts with John Evans on the Tear Off album. Cunningham has toured with the group since 1997. After a 6 year hiatus following the death of The Box Tops lead singer, Alex Chilton in 2010, Bill and Gary Talley, the original guitarist, reunited The Box Tops and began touring in 2016. In 2017 The Box Tops joined The Happy Together Tour with The Turtles, The Association, The Cowsills, Chuck Negron of Three Dog Night, and Ron Dante of The Archies. The Summer tour played 48 cities across the U.S. and entertained over 200,000 fans. On 1 November 2018, Cunningham was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall Of Fame as a founding member of The Box Tops.