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Bumps Myers was born Hubert Maxwell Meyers on August 22, 1912 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Moving to southern California with his family when he was nine years old, he began playing with Curtis Mosby in the late 1920s.

The 1930s saw him playing with Buck Clayton including on a tour of China. In addition, he played with Lionel Hampton and Les Hite. In the 1940s Bumps performed extensively with Benny Carter, Lester Young, Jimmie Lunceford, Sid Catlett, T-Bone Walker, Benny Goodman, and Russell Jacquet.

Through the 1950s he continued performing live and working as a session musician, with Jimmy Witherspoon, Helen Humes, Red Callender, Louie Bellson, and Harry Belafonte. After working with Horace Henderson in the early 1960s, he put together his own group Bumps Myers & His Frantic Five and recorded prior to retiring due to health problems.

Tenor saxophonist Bumps Myers, who also on occasion played alto and soprano, passed away on April 9, 1968 in Los Angeles, California.

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