37 Facts About Lonnie Donegan

1.

Anthony James Donegan, known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians.

2.

Lonnie Donegan had 31 UK top 30 hit singles, 24 were successive hits and three were number one.

3.

Lonnie Donegan was the first British male singer with two US top 10 hits.

4.

Lonnie Donegan received an Ivor Novello lifetime achievement award in 1995 and in 2000 he was made an MBE.

5.

Lonnie Donegan was a pivotal figure in the British Invasion due to his influence in the US in the late 1950s.

6.

Lonnie Donegan was born in Bridgeton, Glasgow, Scotland, on 29 April 1931.

7.

Lonnie Donegan was the son of an Irish mother and a Scots father, a professional violinist who had played with the Scottish National Orchestra.

8.

In 1933, when Lonnie Donegan was aged 2, the family moved to East Ham in East London.

9.

Lonnie Donegan was evacuated to Cheshire to escape the Blitz in the Second World War and attended St Ambrose College in Hale Barns.

10.

Lonnie Donegan lived for a while on Chiswick Mall in West London.

11.

Lonnie Donegan had two daughters with his first wife, Maureen Tyler, a son and a daughter with his second wife, Jill Westlake, and three sons with his third wife, Sharon whom he married in 1977.

12.

Lonnie Donegan died on 3 November 2002, aged 71, after having a heart attack in Market Deeping, Lincolnshire mid-way through a UK tour, and before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with the Rolling Stones.

13.

Lonnie Donegan had cardiac problems since the 1970s and several heart attacks.

14.

Lonnie Donegan first played in a major band after Chris Barber heard that he was a good banjo player and, on a train, asked him to audition.

15.

Lonnie Donegan had never played the banjo but he bought one for the audition and succeeded more on personality than talent.

16.

Lonnie Donegan used the name at a concert at the Royal Albert Hall on 2 June 1952.

17.

Lonnie Donegan returned to Britain and joined Chris Barber's band.

18.

Lonnie Donegan began playing with two other band members during the intervals, to provide what posters called a "skiffle" break, a name suggested by Ken Colyer's brother, Bill, after the Dan Burley Skiffle Group of the 1930s.

19.

Lonnie Donegan had synthesized American southern blues with simple acoustic instruments: acoustic guitar, washtub bass, and washboard rhythm.

20.

Lonnie Donegan had left the Barber band, and by spring 1955, signed a recording contract with Pye.

21.

Lonnie Donegan appeared on television in the United States on the Perry Como Show and the Paul Winchell Show.

22.

Lonnie Donegan went on to successes such as "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavour ", his biggest hit in the US, on Dot.

23.

Lonnie Donegan turned to music hall style with "My Old Man's a Dustman" which was not well received by skiffle fans and unsuccessful in America on Atlantic in 1960, but it reached number one in the UK.

24.

Lonnie Donegan recorded sporadically during the 1960s, including sessions at Hickory Records in Nashville with Charlie McCoy, Floyd Cramer, and the Jordanaires.

25.

Lonnie Donegan was not popular through the late 1960s and 1970s, and he began to play the American cabaret circuit.

26.

Lonnie Donegan reunited with the original Chris Barber band for a concert in Croydon in June 1975.

27.

Lonnie Donegan collaborated with Rory Gallagher on several songs, notably Rock Island Line with Gallagher performing most of the elaborate guitar work.

28.

Lonnie Donegan had his first heart attack in 1976 while in the United States and had quadruple bypass surgery.

29.

Lonnie Donegan returned to attention in 1978 when he recorded his early songs with Rory Gallagher, Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Brian May The album was called Putting on the Style.

30.

In 1983, Lonnie Donegan toured with Billie Jo Spears, and in 1984 he made his theatrical debut in a revival of the 1920 musical Mr Cinders.

31.

Lonnie Donegan played at the Glastonbury Festival in 1999, and was made an MBE in 2000.

32.

Lonnie Donegan appeared at Fairport Convention's annual music festival on 9 August 2001.

33.

Peter Lonnie Donegan started touring as his father's pianist when he was aged 18.

34.

In 2019, Peter appeared on the show The Voice as a contestant, and dueted with Tom Jones with a song Lonnie Donegan had written for Tom, "I'll Never Fall in Love Again".

35.

Mark Knopfler released a tribute to Lonnie Donegan titled "Donegan's Gone" on his 2004 album, Shangri-La, and said he was one of his greatest influences.

36.

Subsequently, Peter Lonnie Donegan formed a band to perform his father's material and has since linked with his father's band from the last 30 years with newcomer Eddie Masters on bass.

37.

Lonnie Donegan is shown in the final scene generously allowing her to make one last appearance on stage.