Editing Billy Tipton (section)

=== Bandleader ===
Tipton began playing piano alone at the Elks Club in Longview, Washington, in 1951.<ref name="HIST"/> In Longview, he started the Billy Tipton Trio, which included Dick O'Neil on drums, and Kenny Richards (and later Ron Kilde) on bass.<ref name="HIST"/> The trio gained local popularity.

[[File:Press photo of the Billy Tipton Trio, c. 1966.jpg|thumb|upright|Tipton (center) with the trio]]
In 1956, while on tour performing at King's Supper Club in [[Santa Barbara, California]], a talent scout from Tops Records heard them play and got them a contract.<ref name="HIST"/> The Billy Tipton Trio recorded two albums of [[jazz standard]]s for Tops: ''Sweet Georgia Brown'' and ''Billy Tipton Plays Hi-Fi on Piano'', both released early in 1957.<ref name="HIST"/> Among the pieces performed were "[[Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man]]", "[[Willow Weep for Me]]", "[[What'll I Do]]", and "[[Don't Blame Me (Dorothy Fields and Jimmy McHugh song)|Don't Blame Me]]".<ref name="HIST"/> In 1957, the albums sold 17,678 copies, a "respectable" sum for a small [[independent record label]].<ref name="HIST"/>

In 1958, after the success of both albums, the Billy Tipton Trio was offered a position as [[house band]] at the Holiday Hotel casino in Reno, Nevada, as well as opening for fellow musician [[Liberace]].  Tops Records also invited the trio to record four more albums.<ref name="HIST"/><ref name="REMEMBERED">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=Dinitia |url=https://www.nytimes.com/library/books/060298tipton-biography.html |title=Billy Tipton Is Remembered With Love, Even by Those Who Were Deceived|work=The New York Times |date=June 2, 1998 |access-date=February 1, 2007}}</ref> Tipton declined both offers, choosing instead to move to [[Spokane, Washington]], where he worked as a talent broker and the trio performed weekly.<ref name="HIST"/><ref name="REMEMBERED"/>

In the late 1970s, worsening arthritis forced Tipton to retire from music.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Suits Me: The Double Life of Billy Tipton |first=Diane |last=Middlebrook |author-link=Diane Middlebrook |pages=252–255 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-395-95789-9 }}</ref>