His father, William Franklin Lee III, played piano, trumpet and the upright bass professionally.
After classes, he worked on bass fundamentals listening to not only the Beatles, but also Stevie Wonder, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Miller, The Rascals, Motown, Sly & the Family Stone, among others.
Trumpeter Randy Brecker called Lee out of class one day and invited him to audition for jazz-rock group Dreams.
Lee played in the New York "24th Street Band" which had great success in Japan, giving him a solo artist career that yielded him a top 5 single.
On the May 13, 2015, episode of the Late Show with David Letterman, as Letterman was interviewing Paul Shaffer, Shaffer gave recognition to the members of his band, and lastly mentioned Lee as the "man has been with us on bass since the first night we were on Late Night, Will Lee."
[6] With Alessi Brothers With Peter Allen With Joan Armatrading With Patti Austin With Aztec Camera With Carole Bayer Sager With Joe Beck With Bee Gees With George Benson With Michael Bolton With The Brecker Brothers With Dan Brenner With Hiram Bullock With Gary Burton With Peabo Bryson With Irene Cara With Mariah Carey With Felix Cavaliere With Beth Nielsen Chapman With Cher With Clarence Clemons With Jimmy Cliff With Linda Clifford With Natalie Cole With Judy Collins With Lou Courtney With Randy Crawford With Peter Criss With Christopher Cross With Ron Dante With D'Angelo With Sheena Easton With Enchantment With Donald Fagen With Art Farmer With Roberta Flack With Michael Franks With Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway With Ace Frehley With Steve Goodman With Lawrence Gowan With Al Green With Henry Gross With Arlo Guthrie With Spyro Gyra With Major Harris With Cissy Houston With Janis Ian With Chaka Khan With Kool & the Gang With Yusef Lateef With Lori Lieberman With Fred Lipsius With Steve Lukather With Delbert McClinton With Taj Mahal With Melissa Manchester With Barry Manilow With Herbie Mann With Meco With Glenn Medeiros With Melanie With Bette Midler With Liza Minnelli With Tim Moore With Kenny Nolan With Laura Nyro With Odyssey With Leslie Pearl With Esther Phillips With Nicole Renée With Vicki Sue Robinson With Diana Ross With David Sanborn With Leo Sayer With Lalo Schifrin With Helen Schneider With Diane Schuur With Don Sebesky With Neil Sedaka With Janis Siegel With Nina Simone With Carly Simon With Phoebe Snow With Bert Sommer With The Spinners With Dusty Springfield With Ringo Starr With Steely Dan With Mike Stern With Cat Stevens With Barbra Streisand With The Manhattan Transfer With Bonnie Tyler With Frankie Valli With Narada Michael Walden With Dionne Warwick With Vanessa Williams With Peter Wolf