Lonnie Donegan is a musical legend. As the ‘King of Skiffle’ in the mid 1950’s he was a pioneer of the British Pop Scene and his name has been synonymous with world-class entertainment ever since.

Lonnie has recently been seen along side Van Morrison, they released an album together early in 2000, this was followed up with Lonnie appearing on Jools Holland, with Van, and Ronnie Wood making up members of his band. Live appearances followed with numerous festivals in the Summer before a short sell out tour of the UK, during which time Lonnie visited Buckingham Palace to receive an MBE.

Over 30 years on and Lonnie lists among the ten biggest hit-makers of all time, his 34 top-twenty chart entries creating musical history when everyday youngsters joined a skiffle group in a bid to emulate the Donegan sound on such classics as; ‘Rock Island Line’ ‘Cumber­land Gap’ ‘Have a Drink on me’ ‘Putting on the Style’ ‘My old Man’s a Dustman’ ‘Grand Coulee Dam’ ‘Pick a Bale of Cotton’ ‘Lost John’ ‘Michael Row the Boat Ashore’ ‘Tom Dooley’ ‘Chewing Gum’ ‘Battle of New Orleans’ etc... For a decade, Donegan was Britain’s unequalled superstar with every single release a chart hit. He was the first artist to have an LP in the charts, the first with an EP in the charts and the first to win a gold record for a debut release when ‘Rock Island Line’ sold 3 million copies.

Born in Glasgow on 29th April 1931, Anthony James Donegan was the only child of Scots­Irish parents. He taught himself to play guitar at 14 and formed his own outfit, the Tony Donegan Jazzband. A turning point came when he was booked at the Royal Festival Hall as support to American Blues singer, Lonnie Johnson. So little was known about that type of music in those days that the show’s compere mistakenly introduced ‘Tony Donegan’ as ‘Lonnie Donegan.’ The name was his from then on.

Later co-founding the now legendary Chris Barber Jazzband. Lonnie played guitar and banjo but also performed vocal ‘Skiffle sessions’ during live concerts. Singing was secondary to him in those days but, ironically, it was his version of ‘Rock Island Line’ on the band’s first album that attracted the radio plays. Decca Records released it as a single and musical history was underway. Lonnie was plucked from the band, signed by Pye Records and whisked off to the USA for his first solo appearance on the Perry Como TV Show. Co­star on that show was Ronald Reagan who did a sketch with Lonnie entitled ‘What is a Lonnie Donegan....?’

He rode high in the charts alongside Presley until the Quarrymen Skiffle group changed their name, to the Beatles. They, and the Merseysound, took over the record market leaving Lonnie little choice but to switch his act to suit cabaret audiences around the world’s top nightspots. He spent the late 60’s and most of the 70’s starring in ‘seasons’ at such places as Las Vegas, New York, London and Hollywood. By the early 80’s, theatres were reclaiming their audiences and there was a renewed demand for the King of Skiffle in Britain. Because of the workload there, Lonnie had moved to the USA but now returns home annually to fulfil concert and TV appearances. He also undertook his first stage musical role in 1984 when he starred as Mr. Cinders in London’s West End.

Lonnie Donegan celebrates his jubilee of performing in 2001
Do not miss out on one of Rock ’n’ Roll's Legends.

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