11 Facts About Hilton Valentine

Hilton Stewart Paterson Valentine was an English skiffle and rock and roll musician who was the original guitarist in the Animals.

Hilton Valentine was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 and into Hollywood's Rock Walk of Fame in 2001 with the other members of the Animals.

Hilton Valentine toured New England and participated in several The Animals reunions.

Hilton Valentine was born in North Shields, Northumberland, England, and was influenced by the 1950s skiffle craze.

Hilton Valentine's mother bought him his first guitar in 1956 when he was 13, he taught himself some chords from a book called Teach Yourself a Thousand Chords.

Hilton Valentine continued to develop his musical talent at Tynemouth High School and formed his own skiffle group called the Heppers.

Hilton Valentine continued to play and record with the Animals, until the first incarnation of the band dissolved in September 1966.

In 1977, Hilton Valentine rejoined the group and recorded a reunion album called Before We Were So Rudely Interrupted.

Not long after the album was fully complete and released, Hilton Valentine then returned to the UK.

Hilton Valentine's last recording was "River Tyne", a 2019 video that celebrated the river close to his boyhood home.

Hilton Valentine's body was returned to England and is interred at Preston Cemetery and Tynemouth Crematorium, North Shields.