Will Held was born to German immigrants Herman Held and his spouse Bertha Stoes in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He had nine older siblings, including Helene (1868), Bruno Herman (3/1870),

The Held family in Philadelphia c.1905.
Will is standing at left.

Clara Bertha (1871), Alma (1872), Emil P. (4/1874) and Elizabeth (6/1879) born in Germany before the family immigrated in 1880, and then Ella C. (4/1884), Anna (1885) and Mildred Bertha (8/1886). Anna and Clara did not survive childhood. Will's World War I draft record showed a birth date of June 9, 1888, but his death certificate listed June 7, 1890. Given other records that were found, the 1888 year will be assumed as correct, and the June date as variable.

The Held family was inherently musical, and Herman had noted musician as his profession on his immigration papers. As of the 1900 census, when William was but 12, Herman was listed as a musician, Bruno as a musician, and Emil as a composer. Little could be found on Will's time growing up, but it is evident that everybody in the family received some kind of musical training - at least the males. (Note that there was a Will Held in Pittsburgh who published one march in the late 1890s, but he was an office clerk for the Pennsylvania Company and from a different branch of the family.)

Perhaps inspired by his brother Emil, or simply wanting to join in on the ragtime craze, Will had his first known ragtime work published in 1909 by Vandersloot Music in Williamsport, Pennsylvania; Sweet Ecstasy, which was a lightly syncopated novelette. As of the 1910 census taken in Philadelphia at 2623 Germantown Avenue, Herman was now the proprietor of a downtown music store, Bruno was working as a dealer at the store, and Will was listed as a musician taking odd jobs. The following year he brought out two full-fledged rags, That Everlasting Rag and Fire Cracker Rag. That Everlasting Rag was published in Battle Creek, Michigan, indicating the probability that Will had become an itinerant musician by that time, perhaps traveling with a vaudeville troupe or Chautauqua. Fire Cracker Rag was distributed by Corry Publishing in Philadelphia. In 1912 he released a relatively popular reverie, Golden Dream, and co-composed the songs Girl, Girl, Girl and Dorothy, Sweet Dorothy, the type of songs that further hint that he was involved with vaudeville. There was also the march Southern Land, and a couple of arrangements, indicating that he was potentially contracted now and then by other composers or publishers to do piano reductions or song arrangements. Among the most notable is that of J. Harry Clark's The Tanglefoot Tango, which was a minor hit.

Only three known pieces came out over the next three years. Then in 1916 Held had his finest rag issued by the noted classic ragtime publisher John Stark in St. Louis. Chromatic Rag has become a classic unto itself over the past century, and is the piece that Will is most noted for. It would nearly his last known published composition. That same year found him married on March 16 to Ella S. Douglas of Philadelphia, who was descended from a Scottish father and native Pennsylvania mother. As of the June 5, 1917, draft taken in Philadelphia, Will was living at 2911 N. 26th Street, working as a musician (probably a film accompanist) for the Kensington Amusement Company. They had opened the Iris Theatre on Christmas day, 1916, which would serve as one of the finer motion picture theaters in Philadelphia for the next several years. Newspaper mentions of Will also revealed that he was working as a music teacher in the mid-to-late-1910s, as did city directory listings for Philadelphia.

For the 1920 census Will was listed as a music teacher, living in Philadelphia with Ella, and likely playing local venues on the side. The couple also had a Danish boarder in their modest home. After one published song in 1921 he all but disappeared from view. Held had several arrangements copyrighted in 1922 and 1923, but no compositions. His listings in the city directory under music teachers continued until 1925. Held's friend William Tully copyrighted, but apparently did not issue, some of Will's compositions, songs and arrangements in the spring of 1924. There is a possibility that Will was sick for some time before his premature demise, given a bout of meningitis he suffered in early 1924. He died in early 1925 at age 36 of chronic mastoiditis, essentially an infection that starts in the mastoid bone of the ear and quickly spreads to the brain. This was attributed in part to the meningitis. On his death certificate he was still listed with the occupation of composer, having left all too little behind of his musical talent. Will Held is buried at Northwood Cemetery in Philadelphia.