William Henry "Chick" Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939)[1] was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader.

During Webb's lifetime, a December 1937 DownBeat magazine article, "The Rise of a Crippled Genius",[4] stated he was born in 1909, which is the year that appears on his grave marker.

In 1939, The New York Times stated that Webb was born in 1907,[citation needed] the year also suggested in Rhythm on Record by Hilton Schleman.

When an infant, Webb fell down some stairsteps in his family's home, crushing several vertebrae and requiring surgery, from which he never regained full mobility.

[8] Webb was unable to read music, and instead memorized the arrangements played by the band and conducted from a platform in the center.

[10] Webb married Martha Loretta Ferguson (also known as "Sally"), and in 1935 he began featuring a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as a vocalist.

Despite rumors to the contrary, "Ella was not adopted by Webb, nor did she live with him and his wife, Sally," according to Stuart Nicholson in his Fitzgerald biography.

[11] In November 1938, Webb's health began to decline; for a time, however, he continued to play, refusing to give up touring so that his band could remain employed during the Great Depression.