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While he did not complete his undergraduate degree, following his rise to prominence, the university awarded him an honorary doctor of arts degree. Īfter graduating from Coral Gables Senior High School in Coral Gables, Florida in 1967, Winston attended Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, where he majored in sociology. In 1971, he switched to solo piano after hearing the stride pianists Fats Waller, Teddy Wilson and later Earl Hines, Donald Lambert and Cleo Brown. After hearing the Doors in 1967, he was inspired to play the organ. Over the next few years, Winston purchased all of Guaraldi's releases and watched each new Peanuts special to hear Guaraldi's newest music. In 1965 at age 16, he became interested in Vince Guaraldi's music when the animated television special A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered, and he soon purchased the soundtrack album featuring Guaraldi's music. As a youth, his musical interests included instrumentals of the R&B, rock, pop and jazz genres, especially those by organists. He was raised mainly in Montana ( Miles City and Billings), as well as Mississippi and Florida. George Otis Winston III was born in Hart, Michigan on February 11, 1949.

His interest in the Hawaiian slack-key guitar led him to start his own record label, Dancing Cat Records. Winston also played the guitar and harmonica. His musical style has been classified as new age and sometimes classical, but he rejected both labels. While the majority of his recordings were in the folk piano style, Winston mostly enjoyed playing R&B piano. Winston played in three styles: the melodic approach that he developed and called "rural folk piano" stride piano, primarily inspired by Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson and his primary interest, New Orleans rhythm and blues (R&B) piano, influenced by James Booker, Professor Longhair and Henry Butler. Winston received four other Grammy nominations, including one for Best Children's Music Album, performed with actress Meryl Streep, and another for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album for his interpretation of works by the rock band the Doors. A total of 16 solo albums were released, accumulating over 15 million records sold, with the 1994 album Forest earning Winston a Grammy award for Best New Age Album. Best known for his solo piano recordings, Winston released his first album in 1972, and came to prominence with his 1980 album Autumn, which was followed in 1982 by Winter into Spring and December, all three became platinum-selling albums, with December becoming a triple-platinum album. George Otis Winston III (Febru– June 4, 2023) was an American pianist who was an established contemporary instrumental music performer.