Born in Corpus Christi, Texas, Powell grew up in a military family (his father was in the U.S. Navy) and spent several years of his childhood living in Italy where his father was stationed. After his father died of cancer in 1960, he moved with his family back to the United States and settled in Jacksonville, Florida. He met his lifelong friend, Leon Wilkeson in elementary school. Billy's interest in piano began to grow and he began taking piano lessons from a local teacher named Madalyn Brown. She swore he did not need her, claiming that Billy was a natural and picked things up well on his own. When it was time for high school, his mother enrolled Billy and his brother, Ricky at Sanford Naval Academy in Sanford, FL. Billy returned to Jacksonville where he enrolled at Bishop Kenny High School. When he graduated in 1970, he enrolled briefly in a community college, majoring in Music Theory. Around this time he found work as a roadie for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Billy remained a m...
