Neely was born in Glengormley, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in 1959 and graduated with joint honours in Modern History and English from Queen's University of Belfast.
Bill Neely has covered many of the major world news events over four decades, including the fall of the Berlin Wall, which he describes as "the best story I ever covered", the break-up of the Soviet Union, numerous wars and terrorist attacks including 9/11, multiple natural disasters and national elections, particularly in the United States.
Neely was Washington correspondent and US Bureau Chief for six years (1991–97), covering two Presidential elections, the Atlanta Olympics and Oklahoma City bombing, the OJ Simpson trial, the Waco siege as well as many major stories across North and South America and the Caribbean.
From 1997–2002 he was Europe Correspondent, covering the death of Diana, Princess of Wales for which he was part of the team nominated for a BAFTA award; the crash of Concorde and the wars in Kosovo and Afghanistan.
In addition, he has covered elections in Russia, Germany, France, Canada, the UK, Ireland, Spain, Jamaica, Iran, and Israel, and has interviewed numerous presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads of State.
He covered the 2005 Pakistan earthquake for which ITV News won a Royal Television Society award and, in the same year, the devastating floods in New Orleans and the Asian tsunami.
In 2010, he reported on the earthquake in Haiti, for which he won the 2010 BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) award for the best news coverage.
He also reported on the killing of Osama bin Laden, the Iranian 'Green Revolution' of 2008, as well as terror attacks in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, India, Pakistan, Nigeria, Egypt, Israel and across Europe.
He reported regularly on the "Arab Spring", firstly from Egypt, then Libya, and during more than a dozen visits to Syria; frontline dispatches that have been broadcast around the world.
With NBC News, Neely was part of the team that won a prestigious Peabody Award for "Continuing Coverage of ISIS" in 2014.
He was part of the Nightly News team that won the Edward R. Murrow Award for reports after the Paris attacks of January 2015.
Neely reported on the COVID crisis of 2020–21 from Hong Kong, Italy, Sweden, Austria, London, and Brazil.