Billy Collins est né en 1937 dans le Tennessee, États-Unis. Il était marié à Bettye Frances Shreeve Collins. Il est mort le 9 janvier 2018 dans le Tennessee, États-Unis.
He was born into a working class family. His father was of Irish decent and his mother was a Native American. He worked as a Truck Driver. He was a former welterweight professional boxer (with a record 38 wins - 17 loss - 1 draw) who had once fought world champion Curtis Cokes. He trained his son to follow in his footsteps since before kindergarten.