Biography

Lonnie Donegan MBE (April 29, 1931 – November 4, 2002 ), the King Of Skiffle and ‘first real British pop superstar’ shot to fame in 1956, when Rock Island Line sold an unprecedented 3 million copies, shooting into the British and American top ten. Britain had never heard anything like it and youngsters were hooked.

Launching a craze that was to lead to the creation of over 50,000 skifffle groups in the UK alone, Lonnie Donegan changed the face of popular music forever. Over six years, every single he released was a top-ten hit. He was the first artist to win a Gold Record with a debut release, the first to have an album and an EP in the singles chart. He popularised the guitar in pop music and is listed in the Guinness Book Of Records, as one of the biggest hit-makers of all time.

Lonnie spent the late 60’s and 70’s touring the world, starring in Las Vegas, Hollywood, New York, Canada, Bermuda, Australia and New Zealand, before severe heart problems led him to settle at Lake Tahoe, California. However, in 1978 he was lured back by Adam Faith to perform on Puttin’ On The Style, a celebration of Lonnie by many of his disciples, including Elton John, Brian May, Ringo Starr, Ron Wood and ace guitarist, Albert Lee. A hectic period of touring and promotion followed, and Lonnie formed his own Skiffle group again.

In 1997 Lonnie received a lifetime achievement award at the Ivor Novello Awards (Lonnie had written songs such as ‘I’m Never Gonna Fall In Love Again’, recorded by both Tom Jones and Elvis Presley). In 1999, a collaboration with long-time fan Van Morrison resulted in Lonnie’s first album release in 20 years, Muleskinner Blues. Lonnie became a frequent guest and opening act for Van’s shows and in June 1999 played at the Glastonbury Festival and the Fleadh Festival, followed by a tour that autumn.

On Jools Holland’s ‘Annual Hootenany’, shown on New Year’s Eve 1999, Van and Lonnie sang songs from the upcoming ‘The Skiffle Sessions LP’ (watch it here), recorded live at Belfast University, which subsequently entered the album charts at number 14. A series of celebrated US concerts followed, and in November 2000 Lonnie collected an MBE from Buckingham Palace in recognition of his musical contribution to his country. As Lonnie continues to tour, he has recently had a special edition Martin guitar (the make Lonnie had popularised the world over) created in his honour.

Read more about Lonnie on Wikipedia >>>