William Scott "Bill" Bruford was born May 17, 1949, in Sevenoaks, Kent, England, and began his professional career in 1968 after a handful of lessons from Lou Pocock of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Known for his ringing metal snare drum, crisp cymbal work, and facility with complex time signatures, Bruford came to prominence as the original drummer for the progressive rock group Yes, from 1968 to 1972, and was at various points the drummer for King Crimson between 1972 and 1997, alongside a touring stint with Genesis in 1976.

Between King Crimson engagements, from 1978 to 1980 Bruford led his own jazz fusion band, featuring guitarist Allan Holdsworth, bassist Jeff Berlin, whose own career is covered in full in his JazzProfiles.com profile, and keyboardist Dave Stewart, releasing four albums: Feels Good to Me (1978), One of a Kind (1979), The Bruford Tapes (1980), and Gradually Going Tornado. During one of King Crimson leader Robert Fripp's later hiatuses, Bruford formed his self-titled jazz group Earthworks in 1986, maintaining a parallel career as a session drummer with guitarists Al DiMeola and David Torn, bassist Jamaaladeen Tacuma, and keyboardist Patrick Moraz. Across more than 20 Earthworks releases, the group evolved from an eclectic outfit built around Bruford's Simmons electronic drums into a lean, muscular acoustic post-bop unit.

Bruford announced his retirement from performing in 2009 and has not performed publicly since.

Bruford's movement between progressive rock's most celebrated bands and his own jazz fusion and later acoustic post-bop projects made him one of the rare drummers to achieve major stature in both worlds, and his Earthworks ensemble's two-decade evolution traced a genuine arc from electronic fusion experimentation toward a more traditional acoustic jazz sound.