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Leroy Williams was born in Chicago, Illinois on February 3, 1939 and first began playing drums as a teenager in the 1950s. From 1959 to the middle of the 1960s he played with Judy Roberts, and following this stint he moved to New York City and played with Booker Ervin in 1967.

1968 found him playing with Sonny Rollins, Archie Shepp, and Clifford Jordan; in 1969 he first began playing and collaboration with Barry Harris. 1970 saw him playing with Hank Mobley, Wilbur Ware, and Thelonious Monk, the latter of which he went with on a tour of Japan.

Later in the 1970s he played and recorded with Hank Mobley, Yusef Lateef, Ray Bryant, Charles McPherson, Stan Getz, Andrew Hill, Sonny Stitt, Junior Cook, Al Cohn, Buddy Tate, Ted Dunbar, Slide Hampton, Red Rodney and Bob Wilber, among others.

In the 1980s Williams played with Talk Talk, Level 42, Art Davis, Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Steve Turre, and recorded with Pepper Adams, Bill Hardman. In the 1990s he performed and recorded with Frank Morgan, with Anthony Braxton, Lee Konitz, Ralph Lalama, and Pete Malinverni. Most recently, he was a member of El Mollenium with Roni Ben-Hur, Bertha Hope, and Walter Booker.

He was a member of the cast in the music documentary Bird Now and played one of the Angels of Mercy in the Steve Martin film spoof Leap Of Faith about fake faith healers. At the turn of the decade, Williams was a member of the cooperative band el Mollenium, which also included guitarist Roni Ben-hur, pianist Bertha Hope, and bassist Walter Booker. The band is devoted largely to interpreting the music of the late pianist Elmo Hope. Drummer Leroy Williams continues to be active.

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