Lonnie Donegan

Lonnie (John) Donegan MBE was born in the Bridgeton area of Glasgow in 1931 and eventually became known as ‘The King of Skiffle’. His father was a violinist with the (then) Scottish National Orchestra (now RSNO), but the family moved to London in 1933, where after World War II, Donegan would become heavily influenced by jazz. The first group he joined was the Chris Barber Band and he later went on to found his own group, the Tony Donegan Jazzband in 1952. Donegan was a fan of Lonnie Johnson, and took the musician’s first name as a tribute after the Donegan band opened for Johnson at the Royal Festival Hall.

By 1954 Donegan was entertaining audiences wish his washboard, a tea-chest bass and a cheap Spanish guitar, and he released his first record. It became so popular (it was the first debut record to go Gold), that it was exported to America reaching the Top Ten. He went on to be signed by EMI’s Columbia label and working on his next record at Abbey Road Studios.

I'm trying to sing acceptable folk music. I want to widen the audience beyond the artsy-craftsy crowd and the pseudo intellectuals - but without distorting the music itself.

Donegan went on the release a number of records that were successful both in the UK and America. He is often cited as being of great influence to many of the great British musicians of the 1960s and the Guinness Book of Records holds him as 'Britain’s most successful and influential recording artist before The Beatles.’ Indeed, Donegan’s music is said to have heavily the Beatles. His music earned him 24 successive Top 30 hits and was the first British male to get two Top 10 singles in America.

He really was at the very cornerstone of English blues and rock. Brian May

After a heart-attack in 1976, Lonnie returned to the spotlight two years later with an album called Putting on the Style in collaboration with figures such as Ringo Starr, Elton John, and Brian May. Lonnie reunited with the Chris Barber Band in 1994, 40 years after they were last together. He also appeared on The Skiffle Sessions, Van Morrison’s album of a live 1998 concert in Belfast, and played at Glastonbury.

Donegan died in 2002, aged 71, of a heart attack, shortly before he was due to perform at a memorial concert for George Harrison with The Rolling Stones.

He was the first person we had heard of from Britain to get to the coveted No. 1 in the charts, and we studied his records avidly. We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man. Paul McCartney

I wanted to be Elvis Presley when I grew up, I knew that. But the man who really made me feel like I could actually go out and do it was a chap by the name of Lonnie Donegan. Robert Daltrey