Originally the (Royal) Charms, the band changed its name to the Gladiolas in 1957 and the Excellos in 1958, before finally settling on the Zodiacs in 1959.

With his childhood friend Earl Gainey, Williams formed the gospel group the Junior Harmonizers.

[2] In the winter of 1956, while still in high school, Williams and his band traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, to record for the Excello label.

[6] Williams finished high school and while on the road with the band, their station wagon broke down in Bluefield, West Virginia.

After taking the demo of "Stay" to Al Silver at Herald Records in New York City, the song was pressed and released in early 1960.

Later versions of "Stay", by the Four Seasons (1963) and Jackson Browne (1978),[2] reached the Top 20 in the U.S., each selling over one million copies in the United States alone.

The inclusion of the Zodiacs' "Stay" on the soundtrack to the film Dirty Dancing in 1987 led to the song selling more records than it had during its original release.