Benjamin LeRoy “Roy” Love was born at the Lynch Dairy Farm near Pilot Knob in Leavenworth, Kansas to Daniel and Tress Love. He was the second to last of twelve children, seven boys and five girls. Both of Love’s parents had formerly been enslaved. Daniel Love was enslaved by his white father, Jacob Love.

Roy Love attended a segregated school in Leavenworth but had to quit in 1907, when his parents bought a home from his aunt and uncle, Phillis and Luke Overman in Kickapoo, Kansas. There he worked for his neighbor, Arthur “Texas” Mosse, the head coach for the University of Kansas football team. During football season Love was responsible for plowing the fields and caring for over 500 head of livestock.

During World War I, Love served in the segregated 365th and 349th Machine Gun Companies at Camp Funston, Kansas but did not see active duty.

Love taught himself to play piano by the age of nine and performed at dance halls and bars in the Leavenworth area. In 1915 Love copyrighted the lyrics to the song, “Come and See Me Sometime,” and in 1941 he copyrighted the lyrics to “In My Garden With You,” with music by Leo and Hector Richard.

Roy Love married a fellow singer and entertainer, Daisy Watson, in 1932. Though their interracial marriage was legal, Love said that showing affection in public could risk his life. Daisy Watson Love died in 1977, after ten years of illness through which Love provided her care.

Roy Love was a skilled storyteller. He passed away at the age of 104 in 1994 in Kansas City, Kansas. Roy Love is the paternal uncle of former Kansas state representative Clarence Love.