Ray Williams was a 20-year-old executive at Liberty Records when he introduced Elton John to Bernie Taupin. On June 17, 1967, he placed an ad in the New Musical Express seeking artists, composers, singers, and musicians to form a new group. He encouraged John to record a demo, but his record label was not interested in signing him. Ray then provided Elton with some lyrics written by Bernie Taupin and arranged a meeting between the two, resulting in the lifetime career partnership. Williams managed Elton John for five albums before being replaced by John Reid. After the 1990s they hardly saw each other for years. In 2011, Elton told Rolling Stone that he was referred to as 'a guy' who handed him an unopened envelope of Bernie's songs. Williams claims that he reached out to Elton, who is his daughter's, Amoreena, godfather, but didn't hear back. In 2020, Elton posted an apparent reconciliation on Facebook.