William Paul Ackerman was born in Nashville, Tennessee on May 1, 1939 and became one of Nashville's A-Team Drummers during the '60s, '70s and '80s. He played on thousands of recordings as well as live performances, television shows, commercial jingles and radio broadcasts.



Willie Ackerman was a professional musician for most of his life and had played with the likes of Loretta Lynn, Willie Nelson and Louis Armstrong.



Willie Ackerman also worked with artists like Billy "Crash" Craddock, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Doug Kershaw , Jim & Jesse, Jo-El Sonnier, Johnny Paycheck, Katy Moffatt, and Steve Young, Jerry Reed, Tom T Hall, Flatt & Scruggs, The Monkees, Anita Carter, Charley Pride, Ernest Tubb, Jimmy Martin, Earl Scruggs, Red Sovine, Jim Reeves, Darrell Mccall, Don Gibson, Hank Snow, Hal Willis, Freddie Hart, Slim Whitman, Joe Maphis, J.D. Crowe, Charlie Walker, Steve Young, Bobby Bare, Marty Robbins, Stonewall Jackson, George Morgan, Porter Wagoner, Ray Price, Leroy Van Dyke, The Osborne Brothers, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Ben Colder, Wanda Jackson, Bobby Bridger, George Hamilton V,

Roger Miller, and Little Jimmy Dickens among many others.



He was a staff drummer at Grand Ole Opry and was on the well-known tracks El Paso and Wings of a Dove.



More recently, Willie Ackerman played with Patsy Cline, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Chet Atkins.