While he was born William Royce Scaggs, he goes by Boz, short for Bosley—a nickname given to Scaggs by a classmate while he attended prep school in Dallas, Texas. ∙ It was at prep school where Scaggs first met Steve Miller, and the two also went to college together at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ∙ Scaggs played with Steve Miller in numerous projects, most notably the Steve Miller Band, where he served as the group’s guitarist and occasional lead singer during the late ’60s. ∙ His self-titled 1969 album, produced by Rolling Stone cofounder Jann Wenner, was recorded at Alabama’s Muscle Shoals Sound Studio and included the contributions of a young Duane Allman. ∙ Scaggs broke through commercially with 1976’s Silk Degrees, which reached No. 2 on the charts and spawned the hits “Lowdown,” “Lido Shuffle,” “What Can I Say,” and “It’s Over.” ∙ Three of the accompanying studio musicians on Silk Degrees—David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, and David Hungate—went on to form the band Toto. ∙ While he has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards, his sole win came for “Lowdown,” which was named Best Rhythm & Blues Song in 1976. ∙ In 1988, Scaggs opened a San Francisco nightclub called Slim’s, and remained an owner until its closure in 2020. ∙ In 2010, he formed supergroup The Dukes of September, alongside Michael McDonald and Donald Fagen.