Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and roll, country, gospel, bluegrass, rhythm and blues, southern rock, blues rock, folk, surf and the Tulsa sound. His recordings earned six gold records and he received two Grammy Awards from seven nominations. In 1973 Billboard named Russell the "Top Concert Attraction in the World". In 2011, he was inducted into both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Russell collaborated with many notable artists and recorded 33 albums and 430 songs. He wrote "Delta Lady," recorded by Joe Cocker, and organized and performed with Cocker's Mad Dogs & Englishmen tour in 1970. His "A Song for You," which was named to the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2018, has been recorded by more than 200 artists, and his song "This Masquerade" by more than 75.

As a pianist, Russell played in his early years on albums by the Beach Boys, the Ventures, Dick Dale, and Jan and Dean. On his first album, Leon Russell, in 1970, the musicians included Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison. One of his early fans, Elton John, said that Russell was a "mentor" and an "inspiration". They recorded their album The Union in 2010, earning them a Grammy nomination.

Russell produced and played in recording sessions for Bob Dylan, Frank Sinatra, Ike & Tina Turner, the Rolling Stones, and many other artists. He wrote and recorded the hits "Tight Rope" and "Lady Blue". He performed at The Concert for Bangladesh in 1971, along with Harrison, Dylan, and Clapton; for this, he earned a Grammy Award.

Russell was born on April 2, 1942, the second of John Griffith and Hester Evel (née Whaley) Bridges' two sons at Southwestern Hospital in Lawton, Oklahoma. Russell's mother said that he started talking later than most children. She said while he was "watching the birds, and something was going on with the birds," his first words were "What's the matter, little birdie — you cry?" His mother said she was "shocked, because he never spoke".

Russell said he "was born with 'spastic paralysis,' now called cerebral palsy". An injury at birth damaged his second and third vertebrae, causing a slight paralysis in the right side of his body, most notably affecting three fingers on his right hand which caused Russell to favor his left hand and develop his signature left-hand-dominant piano playing style. He said "My chops have always been sort of weak.... I have damaged nerve endings on the right side, so my piano style comes from designing stuff I can play with my right hand." He said that the condition helped him become "very aware of the duality involved in our plane of existence here". He also had a limp caused by the same condition that was once thought to be due to polio. Russell said, "I felt like the world had cheated me big time" but added, "If I hadn't had the problem, I probably wouldn't have gotten into music at all and would have been an ex-football player, selling insurance in Des Moines."

Both of Russell's parents played upright piano, and when he was four years old his mother heard him picking out the melody to "Trust and Obey," a hymn he had heard at church. He then began piano lessons in Anadarko, Oklahoma, a 38-mile (61 km) trip each way. While still taking piano lessons, Russell learned the alto saxophone and cornet in his elementary school band. He then learned to play the baritone horn. After impressing the high school band director in Maysville, Russell was invited to join the high school marching band while in the fifth grade. Russell said he learned to fake a classical piano style, saying "I studied classical music for a long time, maybe ten years, and I realized, finally, I was never going to have the hands to play that stuff. It was too complicated. I invented ways to play in a classical style that was not the real deal."

Russell attended Will Rogers High School in Tulsa, Oklahoma. His classmates included Elvin Bishop, Gailard Sartain, Anita Bryant, and David Gates. Russell's first record appearance was in 1957 age 15 years old, when he played piano on "Jo-Baby," a song written by 16-year-old Gates. Originally attributed to "the Accents," it was released on the Tulsa-based Perspective Sound label and then re-released a year later and distributed nationally by Marty Robbins on his Robbins Records record label under the band name "David Gates & the Accents". Russell collaborated later with Gates after high school in the band the Fencemen. Russell credited his awareness of the precursors of American soul music to a homemade AM crystal radio. He was offered a chance to tour with Jerry Lee Lewis after graduating. Explaining his decision to not attend college, Russell said, "I figured this was my chance to eat in a lot of restaurants and travel around, play some rock and roll music, which I decided was easier and better."