Riley was a graduate of the University of Toronto and studied with the Royal Conservatory of Music. Doug Riley was born and raised in Toronto. At the age of two he was diagnosed with polio. He began to study piano at the age of three as a way of coping with his physical disability and providing him with a means of self-expression. He played with the Silhouettes, an R&B band, while in his teens. He attended the University of Toronto and graduated with a Bachelor of Music in 1965. He went on to do his postgraduate work on the music of the Iroquois. In 1969, Riley was the arranger and keyboardist on Ray Charles’ album, Doing His Thing. In a 2006 interview with the Toronto Star, Doug Riley said “Ray Charles was my first influence outside the boogie-woogie and stride pianists like Albert Ammons