Amoo, Edward Robert [Eddy] (1944–2018), singer and songwriter, was born on 5 May 1944 at the Smithdown Road Infirmary, 126 Smithdown Road, Liverpool, the son of Robert Ofei Amoo (1917–1989), an engine greaser in the merchant navy, and his wife, ...
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Amoo, Edward Robert [Eddy] (1944–2018), singer and songwriter
Spencer Leigh
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Black, Cilla [real name Priscilla White] (1943–2015), singer and television presenter
Johnny Rogan
Black, Cilla [real name Priscilla White] (1943–2015), singer and television presenter, was born on 27 May 1943 at 380 Scotland Road, Liverpool, the daughter of John Patrick White (1904–1971), dock labourer, and his wife, Priscilla, née Blythen (1911–1996...
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Bolan, Marc [real name Mark Feld] (1947–1977), musician and poet
Rikky Rooksby
Bolan, Marc [real name Mark Feld] (1947–1977), musician and poet, was born on 30 September 1947 in Hackney, London, the second child of Simeon Feld, cosmetics salesman (1920–1991), and his wife, Phyllis Winifred, née Atkins (1927–1991). The energy of 1950s rock'n'roll captivated the young ...
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Bowie, David [real name David Robert Jones] (1947–2016), singer and actor
Richard Weight
Bowie, David [real name David Robert Jones] (1947–2016), singer and actor, was born on 8 January 1947 at 40, Stansfield Road, Brixton, south London, as David Robert Burns, the son of Hayward Stenton (John) Jones (1912–1969) and Margaret Mary Burns...
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Brown, Errol Ainsworth Glenstor (1943–2015), singer and songwriter
Chloe Govan
Brown, Errol Ainsworth Glenstor (1943–2015), singer and songwriter, was born on 12 November 1943 in Kingston, Jamaica. The result of a teenage pregnancy, he barely knew his police officer father, Ivan Brown, from whom his mother Edna (d. 1963), a secretary, had become estranged shortly after his birth. Desperate to rescue her son from a cultural backdrop of poverty and gang violence, ...
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Browne, George Edric (1920–2007), singer, songwriter, and actor
Val Wilmer
Browne, George Edric (1920–2007), singer, songwriter, and actor, was born Edric Browne on 4 May 1920 in Corbeau Town, Port of Spain, Trinidad, the only son and youngest of three children of Ernest Browne, a government printer, and his wife, Frances, née Noriega...
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Curtis, Clem [real name Curtis Clements] (1940–2017), singer
Chloe Govan
Curtis, Clem [real name Curtis Clements] (1940–2017), singer, was born in Trinidad on 28 November 1940, the son of Ellis Clements, musician, and his wife, a jazz singer. Despite having musical parents, there was little to suggest a promising career in music lay ahead for the young ...
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Curtis, Ian Kevin (1956–1980), musician
Marios Costambeys
Curtis, Ian Kevin (1956–1980), musician, was the only son and eldest child of Kevin Curtis, a detective officer in the Transport Commission police, and his wife, Doreen, née Hughes. He was born on 15 July 1956 in the Memorial Hospital, Old Trafford, Manchester...
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Cutler, Ivor (1923–2006), humorist and singer
Mark Espiner
Cutler, Ivor (1923–2006), humorist and singer, was born Isadore Cutler on 15 January 1923 at 3 Ralston Drive, Govan, Glasgow, the second son and third of five children of Jack Morris Cutler, draper and jeweller, and his wife, Paulina (Polly), née Goldberg. Both his parents were Jewish, and had arrived in ...
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Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [known as Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006), singer and songwriter
Steve Barker
Dacres, Desmond Adolphus [known as Desmond Dekker] (1941–2006), singer and songwriter, was born on 16 July 1941 in St Andrew, on the outskirts of Kingston, Jamaica. Little is known about his childhood except that after his mother's early death his father, desiring a proper education for his son, sent him to live with relatives in the quiet country town of ...
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Davies, Spencer David Nelson [known as Spencer Davis] (1939–2020), singer, guitarist, and actor
Ken Hunt
Davies, Spencer David Nelson [known as Spencer Davis] (1939–2020), singer, guitarist, and actor, was born on 17 July 1939 at Graig House Maternity Hospital, Swansea, Glamorgan, the son of David Hector Davies (1915–1989), a fusilier with the Royal Welch Fusiliers...
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de Paul, Lynsey [real name Lynsey Monckton Rubin] (1948–2014), songwriter, singer, and pianist
Chloe Govan
de Paul, Lynsey [real name Lynsey Monckton Rubin] (1948–2014), songwriter, singer, and pianist, was born on 11 June 1948 at Nuffield House, Southwark, London, the younger child of Herbert Paul Rubin (1912–1988), property developer, and his wife Meta, née...
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Donegan, Anthony James [Lonnie] (1931–2002), singer
Spencer Leigh
Donegan, Anthony James [Lonnie] (1931–2002), singer, was born on 29 April 1931 in Glasgow, the son of a Scot, Peter John Donegan, violinist, and his Irish wife, Mary Josephine, née Deighan. Although his father played with the Royal National Scottish Orchestra, he did not encourage his son's musical abilities as he regarded his own employment as precarious. Seeking more regular employment, the family moved to ...
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Doonican, Michael Valentine (Val) (1927–2015), singer
Patrick Humphries
Doonican, Michael Valentine (Val) (1927–2015), singer, was born at 10 Passage Road, Waterford, Ireland, on 3 February 1927, the youngest of eight children of John Doonican, iron and steel worker, and his wife Agnes, née Kavanagh. He enjoyed a good relationship with his father. The latter’s life was blighted by a drink problem, yet it was cancer which saw him die when ...
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Driver, Betty Mary (1920–2011), singer and actress
Stephen Bourne
Driver, Betty Mary (1920–2011), singer and actress, was born on 20 May 1920 at the nursing home at 11 Prebend Street, Leicester, the elder daughter of Frederick Andrew Driver (1895–1970), police constable, and his wife, Nellie, née Bridgeford (1898–1954). At the time of her birth registration her parents lived at ...
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Engel, (Noel) Scott [known as Scott Walker] (1943–2019), singer-songwriter, musician, and composer
Marcus Gray
Engel, (Noel) Scott [known as Scott Walker] (1943–2019), singer-songwriter, musician, and composer, was born on 9 January 1943 at Fort Hamilton Hospital, Hamilton, Ohio, USA, the only child of Noel Walter Engel (1910–2000) and his wife Grace Elizabeth Marie...
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Faith, Adam (1940–2003), singer and actor
Spencer Leigh
Faith, Adam (1940–2003), singer and actor, was born Terence Nelhams Wright on 23 June 1940 at 4 Churchfield Road East, Acton, London, the third of five children of Alfred Richard (Alf) Wright (later Nelhams), coach driver, and Ellen May (Nell) Nelhams, cleaner. He was brought up on a council estate in ...
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Ford, Emile [real name (Michael) Emile Telford Miller; also known as Emile Sweetnam] (1937–2016), singer, musician, and sound engineer
Chloe Govan
Ford, Emile [real name (Michael) Emile Telford Miller; also known as Emile Sweetnam] (1937–2016), singer, musician, and sound engineer, was born on 16 October 1937 in Castries, St Lucia, the son of Frederick Edward Miller, later a high-profile member of the Barbadian parliament who served as minister for health and social services, and his wife ...
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Gibb, Maurice Ernest (1949–2003), musician
Tony Barrow
Gibb, Maurice Ernest (1949–2003), musician, was born on 22 December 1949 in Douglas, Isle of Man, the younger twin and third of the four sons of Hugh Leslie (Hughie) Gibb (1916–1992), a Manchester-based ballroom bandleader, and his wife, the singer Barbara May, ...
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Graham, David Michael Gordon [Davey], [Davy] (1940–2008), guitarist and singer
Ken Hunt
Graham, David Michael Gordon [Davey], [Davy] (1940–2008), guitarist and singer, was born on 26 November 1940 at Bosworth Park Infirmary, Market Bosworth, Leicestershire, the son of James McLeod (Hamish or Seamus) Graham, accountant and Gaelic scholar, and Winifred Mary Gordon Woolford (1916–1989). His father was born on ...
