Category: Creativity | LGBTQ+ | Celebrity
Sobey Road Entertainment is proud to have supported the premiere of Billy Preston: That’s The Way God Planned It at this year’s SXSW—a stirring, soulful portrait of one of the most electrifying and unsung musicians of the 20th century.
Billy Preston’s name may not be front-and-center in mainstream memory, but his fingerprints are all over music history. With his unmistakable gospel-rooted sound and command of the Hammond B3, Billy became the secret weapon behind the greatest artists of his era—collaborating with the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Aretha Franklin, Eric Clapton, Ray Charles, Barbra Streisand, and Sly and the Family Stone, among countless others.
But behind the spotlight was a man in conflict. Our film doesn’t just celebrate Preston’s musical genius—it unearths the complex, often painful truths behind his success: the tension between his faith and his identity, his battles with the music industry, and his lifelong search for belonging as a gay Black man shaped by the church, yet too often cast out by it.
Directed and brought to life with care, candor, and electrifying archival footage, That’s The Way God Planned It is more than a music documentary—it’s a reclamation of legacy. We’re honored to have played a role in telling Billy’s story with the depth, reverence, and humanity it deserves.
Stay tuned for more on the film’s journey, and where you can see it next.
by
Andrew Trapani
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