Lonnie Donegan
Skiffle music pioneer
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Singer, who had suffered several heart attacks and was complaining of back trouble, died with his third wife Sharon and son Peter at his side in the central English town of Peterborough. He was halfway through a British tour and had already been forced to cancel two shows because of ill health.
Skiffle is essentially folk music and blues set to a lively backbeat, and Donegan launched the boom -- essentially inventing the musical genre -- in the 1950s with hits such as "Rock Island Line," "Cumberland Gap" and "Does Your Chewing Gum Lose Its Flavor (On the Bedpost Overnight)."
Born Anthony Donegan in Glasgow to a symphony violinist, he played guitar, drums and banjo in various outfits. He was inspired enough by American bluesman Lonnie Johnson to take his first name, and because of his ability to handle traditional blues numbers, he earned a spot in a band headed by Ken Colyer in the early 1950s.
Donegan's army buddy Chris Barber left Colyer's band in 1954 and recorded a 10-inch album, "New Orleans Joy," that included "Rock Island Line" and "John Henry" by the Lonnie Donegan Skiffle Group.
Both sides of the Atlantic embraced "Rock Island Line," turning it into a top 10 hit in the U.K. and U.S. in the first half of 1956. Donegan was one of the first U.K. artists to extensively tour the U.S., playing 40 cities and appearing on Perry Como's TV show with Ronald Reagan in 1956.
His success spawned a musical craze -- by 1956, London alone had almost 1,000 skiffle groups. Indeed, John Lennon was playing in a skiffle band inspired by Donegan, the Quarrymen, when he first met Paul McCartney. (He had been due to take part in a tribute concert to George Harrison at Royal Albert Hall at the end of the November.)
He would continue to produce a steady stream of top 20 hit singles (34) and albums through September 1962, his recording of the traditional American folk tune "Cumberland Gap" being his first U.K. No. 1. His single "My Old Man's a Dustman," released in March 1960, was the first single by a U.K. artist to enter the U.K. chart at No. 1.
As skiffle's popularity waned, Donegan took to the cabaret circuit, starring in Las Vegas, Hollywood and New York. He also secured the publishing rights to many of his recordings, and his company -- Tyler Music -- actively signed songwriters in the 1960s, among them Justin Hayward, who would write "Nights in White Satin" for his band the Moody Blues.
A 1978 a tribute album -- "Putting on the Style" -- featured Elton John, Brian May of Queen and Ringo Starr as his superstar-backing band.
A 1998 live recording with Van Morrison and his old bandmate Barber was released in 2000 as "The Skiffle Sessions: Live in Belfast."
In 1995, he was given a lifetime achievement award at the Ivor Novello Awards.
Besides his wife and son, he is survived by three other sons and three daughters.
