# Gerald Busby > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gerald_Busby > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Gerald_Busby.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Busby > Source revision: 1350822324 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|American composer (born 1935)}} {{Use mdy dates|date=December 2024}} {{use shortened footnotes|date=December 2024}} {{Infobox person | name = Gerald Busby | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1935|12|16}} | birth_place = [Tyler, Texas](/source/Tyler%2C_Texas), U.S. | known_for = ''[3 Women](/source/3_Women)'' (film), ''Runes'' (dance) | alma_mater = [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) | occupation = Composer }} '''Gerald Busby''' (born December 16, 1935) is an American composer. ==Biography== Busby was born in [Tyler, Texas](/source/Tyler%2C_Texas), United States.{{efn|1=In the interview with [Adam Gopnik](/source/Adam_Gopnik), he indicated that there was a Baptist minister as part of his growing up.{{Relevance inline|date=December 2024}}}} He studied piano as a child, playing with the [Houston Symphony](/source/Houston_Symphony) when he was 15 years old.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} He attended [Yale University](/source/Yale_University) in [New Haven, Connecticut](/source/New_Haven%2C_Connecticut), where he studied music in college, but once graduated, began working as a traveling salesman.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} At the age of 40, he had an "epiphany" and began to compose, a direction that surprised him.{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} In 1977, with the assistance of composer [Virgil Thomson](/source/Virgil_Thomson), Busby moved to the [Hotel Chelsea](/source/Hotel_Chelsea) in New York City, where he has written most of his work.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} Living at the Hotel Chelsea brought him into contact with numerous cultural figures. One of them was dancer [Rudolf Nureyev](/source/Rudolf_Nureyev) and his then-partner [Wallace Potts](/source/Wallace_Potts). Potts gave choreographer [Paul Taylor](/source/Paul_Taylor_(choreographer)) a recording of Busby's music, which led to Busby writing the score for Taylor's dance ''Runes''.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} Regarding his scores for Paul Taylor's dance ''Runes'' and [Robert Altman](/source/Robert_Altman)'s film ''[3 Women](/source/3_Women)'', Busby said: "Those two pieces are acknowledged as masterpieces, so that I know they'll last beyond me. ... Not because what I did was a masterpiece, but I was part of it."{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} In 1985, Busby was diagnosed with [HIV](/source/HIV), as was his partner Samuel Byers. Byers died on December 14, 1993; the couple had been together for 18 years. "Sam's death was just unbearable...He lost his mind and withered away. I was there the whole time with him and taking care of him, so I just went nuts."{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} After a bout of depression and drug addiction, Busby became sober and began composing again. In 2007, his monthly income amounted to $658 from Social Security, $78 in disability payments, and $156 in food stamps. Income from his music was undependable; in a good month he could get $1,000, or nothing. ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'' described him as one of its "most neediest cases".{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} Through the [Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies](/source/Federation_of_Protestant_Welfare_Agencies), Busby was able to receive $754.96 for digitizing recordings originally made on perishable [cassette tape](/source/cassette_tape).{{sfn|Rehrmann|2007}} Despite being HIV positive, he has claimed that his immune system has regenerated, something he attributes to his daily practice of [reiki](/source/reiki).{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} As of 2015, he continued to live at the Hotel Chelsea.{{sfn|Gopnik|2015}} ==Notes and references== '''Notes''' {{notelist}} '''References''' {{Reflist}} ===Sources=== *{{cite magazine|last=Gopnik|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Gopnik|title=The Last Living Bohemian in Chelsea Tells All|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/the-last-living-bohemian-in-chelsea-tells-all|magazine=[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)|date=2015-06-15|access-date=2024-12-29}} *{{cite news|last=Rehrmann|first=Alexis|title=Back from the Edge, and Living His Life Note by Note|newspaper=[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/16/nyregion/16neediest.html|date=2007-12-16|access-date=2015-09-06}} ==Further reading== *{{cite magazine|last=Lucas|first=Craig|title=Gerald Busby|magazine=[Bomb](/source/Bomb_(magazine))|url=https://bombmagazine.org/articles/1997/01/01/gerald-busby/|date=Winter 1997|volume=58|access-date=2024-12-29|ref=none}} ==External links== * {{IMDb name}} {{Portal bar|Biography|Film|Music|New York City|Texas}} {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Busby, Gerald}} Category:1935 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century American classical composers Category:20th-century American male composers Category:20th-century American LGBTQ people Category:20th-century people from New York (state) Category:20th-century people from Texas Category:21st-century American classical composers Category:21st-century American LGBTQ people Category:21st-century people from New York (state) Category:21st-century people from Texas Category:American ballet composers Category:American LGBTQ composers Category:American gay musicians Category:American male film score composers Category:American film score composers Category:Classical musicians from New York (state) Category:Classical musicians from Texas Category:Composers from New York City Category:LGBTQ classical composers Category:LGBTQ people from New York (state) Category:LGBTQ people from Texas Category:Musicians from Manhattan Category:Musicians from Tyler, Texas Category:People from Chelsea, Manhattan Category:Reiki practitioners Category:Yale University alumni Category:21st-century American male composers --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Gerald Busby](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Busby) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_Busby?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.