William Henry “Chick” Webb (February 10, 1905 – June 16, 1939) was an American jazz and swing music drummer and band leader.

Webb was born in Baltimore, Maryland, to William H. and Marie Webb. The year of his birth is disputed. The Encyclopædia Britannica and Allmusicindicate 1905, and this seems to be supported by census information. At the age of 17 he moved to New York City and by 1926 was leading his own band in Harlem. Jazz drummer Tommy Benford said he gave Webb drum lessons when he first reached New York.

He alternated between band tours and residencies at New York City clubs through the late 1920s. In 1931, his band became the house band at the Savoy Ballroom. He became one of the best-regarded bandleaders and drummers of the new “swing” style. Drummer Buddy Rich cited Webb’s powerful technique and virtuoso performances as heavily influential on his own drumming, and even referred to Webb as “the daddy of them all”. Webb was unable to read music, and instead memorized the arrangements played by the band and conducted from a platform in the center. He used custom-made pedals, goose-neck cymbal holders, a 28-inch bass drum and other percussion instruments.

At the Savoy, Webb competed in battle of the bands contests with the Benny Goodman Orchestra and the Count Basie Orchestra. Webb lost to Duke Ellington in 1937. Although a judge declared Webb’s band the winner in 1938 over Count Basie’s, and Basie himself said he was relieved to come away from the contest without embarrassing himself, musicians debated the result for decades.

Webb married Martha Loretta Ferguson (also known as “Sally”), and in 1935 he began featuring a teenaged Ella Fitzgerald as a vocalist. Webb and Fitzgerald performed hits such as “A-Tisket, A-Tasket“, which was composed by Van Alexander at Fitzgerald’s request. Despite rumors to the contrary, “Ella was not adopted by Webb, nor did she live with him and his wife, Sally,” according to Stuart Nicholson in his Fitzgerald biography.