1. William John Clifton Haley was an American rock and roll musician.
27 Facts About Bill Haley
1. 2.
Bill Haley was born July 6,1925, in Highland Park, Michigan.
3.
In 1929, the four-year-old Bill Haley underwent an inner-ear mastoid operation which accidentally severed an optic nerve, leaving him blind in his left eye for the rest of his life.
4.
Bill Haley's father William Albert Bill Haley was from Kentucky and played the banjo and mandolin, and his mother, Maude Green, who was originally from Ulverston in Lancashire, England, was a technically accomplished keyboardist with classical training.
5.
Bill Haley told the story that when he made a simulated guitar out of cardboard, his parents bought him a real one.
6.
One source states that Bill Haley started his career as "The Rambling Yodeler" in a country band, The Saddlemen.
7.
The name was inspired by the supposedly official pronunciation of Halley's Comet and was suggested by Bob Johnson, program director at radio station WPWA where Bill Haley had a live radio program from 12:00noon to 1:00pm In 1953, Haley's recording of "Crazy Man, Crazy" hit the American charts, peaking at number 12 on Billboard and number 11 on Cash Box.
8.
Bill Haley had already had a worldwide hit with "Shake, Rattle and Roll", another rhythm and blues cover in this case from Big Joe Turner, which went on to sell a million copies and was the first rock 'n' roll song to enter the UK Singles Chart in December 1954, becoming a gold record.
9.
Bill Haley retained elements of the original, but sped it up with some country music aspects into the song and changed up the lyrics.
10.
Later on in 1957, Bill Haley became the first major American rock singer to tour Europe.
11.
Bill Haley continued to score hits throughout the 1950s such as "See You Later, Alligator" and he starred in the first rock and roll musical films Rock Around the Clock and Don't Knock the Rock, both in 1956.
12.
Bill Haley was already 30 years old, and his popularity was eclipsed in the United States by the younger Elvis Presley, but continued to enjoy great popularity in Latin America, Europe, and Australia during the 1960s.
13.
Bill Haley's youngest daughter, Gina Haley, is a professional musician based in Texas.
14.
Bill Haley had a daughter, Martha Maria, from his marriage with Martha Velasco.
15.
Bill Haley failed to achieve the level of success enjoyed by contemporaries such as Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.
16.
Just before the South African tour commenced, Bill Haley was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and a planned tour of Germany in the autumn of 1980 was cancelled.
17.
The October 25,1980, issue of German tabloid Bild reported that Bill Haley had a brain tumor.
18.
Martha and friends related that Bill Haley did not want to go on the road anymore and that ticket sales for that planned tour of Germany in the fall of 1980 were slow.
19.
The doctor prescribed a medication to stop the overproduction, but said Bill Haley would have to stop drinking.
20.
Media reports immediately following his death indicated that Bill Haley displayed deranged and erratic behavior in the final weeks of his life.
21.
Bill Haley died at his home in Harlingen on February9,1981, aged 55.
22.
Bill Haley was discovered lying motionless on his bed by a friend who had stopped by to visit him.
23.
The friend immediately called the police and Bill Haley was pronounced dead at the scene.
24.
Bill Haley received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6350 Hollywood Boulevard on February8,1960, for his contributions to the music industry.
25.
Bill Haley was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
26.
Unlike his contemporaries, Bill Haley has rarely been portrayed on screen.
27.
In December 2017, Bill Haley was inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Hall Of Fame.