Andy Stewart

Andy Stewart MBE was born in 1933 in Glasgow and died 60 years later in Arbroath. He trained as an actor at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama, and became hugely popular as a music hall entertainer in same lineage as Sir Harry Lauder.

He had several successful hits, both in the UK and abroad, including A Scottish Soldier, which reached number one in Canada, New Zealand and Australia, spent 36 weeks in the UK singles chart and was in the top 50 selling singles in the USA for more than a year, selling over 3 million copies. Donald Where’s Your Troosers? is perhaps his best known tune. It was a hit in both 1961 and 1989, and Stewart was said to have written it in 10 minutes as he sat in the toilet of a recording studio. The song became known throughout the UK, as well as America and Australia, where he toured as a result of its popularity

He was the compere of The White Heather Club, a popular BBC Scotland programme that was the channel’s flagship New Year’s Eve output for over a decade.

Stewart released a number of albums, including Scottish Soldier, The Best of Andy Stewart, Andy Stewart’s Scotland, and a ‘live’ album from Johannesburg called Andy Stewart in South Africa – White Heather Concert, all of which sold around the world and resulted in tours of Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand.

An appearance at the World Fair in New York in 1964 resulted in a standing ovation from the crowd of Americans and he took part in the 1961 and 62 Royal Variety Performances, as well as a Royal Family Christmas party at Windsor Castle.

Andy died shortly after giving a renowned performance at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh in a Gala Benefit Concert for Children’s Hospice Association Scotland – his last ever performance.