Maurice Williams, a renowned rhythm and blues singer and composer, famous for his classic ballad “Stay,” passed away at the age of 86. The North Carolina Music Hall of Fame announced his death, which occurred on August 6, without providing further details.
Williams, a prolific writer and performer from a young age, had been involved in various harmony groups before forming the Zodiacs. In 1960, during a studio session, Williams and the Zodiacs struck gold with “Stay,” a song Williams had hastily written as a teenager. The recording featured hard chants of “Stay!” by his fellow vocalists, with Williams’ poignant plea to an unnamed girl taking center stage. Midway through the song, Williams ceded the lead to Shane Gaston, whose high-pitched falsetto shout – “OH, WON’T YOU STAY, JUST A LITTLE BIT LONGER!” – became iconic. At just over 90 seconds, “Stay” is one of the shortest chart-toppers of the rock era and reached No. 1 on the Billboard pop chart in 1960, marking the group’s only significant success.
The song’s legacy endured, with early covers by the Hollies and the Four Seasons and a renowned live performance by Jackson Browne on his 1977 album “Running On Empty.” “Stay” was also performed by Browne, Bruce Springsteen, and Tom Petty at the 1979 “No Nukes” concert at Madison Square Garden and featured on the 1987 “Dirty Dancing” soundtrack.
The inspiration behind “Stay” was a teenage crush, Mary Shropshire. Williams recalled in a 2012 interview with Our State magazine that he penned the song in an attempt to persuade Mary to stay a little longer, though she ultimately couldn’t.
Despite his early success, Williams’ career saw its share of disappointments. He wrote “Little Darlin’” in 1957, recorded with the Gladiolas, but the hit version was by the Diamonds. In 1965, Williams and the Zodiacs recorded “May I,” but their label Vee-Jay went bankrupt, and the song became a hit for Bill Deal & the Rhondels instead.
Maurice Williams continued to perform on oldies tours and tributes, releasing albums like “Let This Night Last” and “Back to Basics.” He later settled in Charlotte, North Carolina, and was inducted into the state’s Hall of Fame in 2010. He is survived by his wife, Emily.
Williams’ musical journey began in Lancaster, South Carolina, where he sang with family in church. In his teens, he formed the gospel group the Junior Harmonizers, which transitioned into the Royal Charms and eventually the Zodiacs, named after a Ford car they used while touring. Remarkably, the song that became his hallmark came together in less than thirty minutes and was almost discarded, until a chance remark from his girlfriend’s younger sister prompted him to reconsider.
“She was about 12 years old and I said to myself, ‘She’s the age of record buying,’ and the rest is history,” Williams later reflected. “I thank God for her.”
