William "Bill" Pinkney III, the fourth of nine children, was born at Fort Campbell, Kentucky in 1957. A football scholarship took him to East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina, where he studied Fine Art. His lifelong love of music, especially jazz, is reflected in the theme of many of his paintings. His works portray a positive essence that is appealing to the contemporary collector. He has been exhibited at many museums across the country and is in a permanent exhibition at Duke University. Bill passed away in 2017 in Charlotte, North Carolina.