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Biography
Use dmy dates|date=April 2012BLP sources|date=February 2011Infobox musical artist | image = Roger-Whittaker-live.jpg| alt = Roger Whittaker| caption = Roger Whittaker playing live| background = solo_singer| birth_name =| alias =| birth_date = Birth date and age|df=y|1936|03|22|birth_place = Nairobi , Kenya , British Empire | instrument = Guitar | genre = Easy listening , Pop music|pop | occupation = Musician, singer-songwriter, teacher| years_active = 1962–present| label =| associated_acts =| website = URL| http://www.rogerwhittaker.com| notable_instruments = Roger Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is an Anglo-Kenyan singer-songwriter and musician. His music can be described as easy listening . He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability. American audiences are most familiar with his 1970 hit " New World in the Morning " and his 1975 hit " The Last Farewell ," the latter of which is his only single to hit the Billboard (magazine)|Billboard Hot 100 (it made the Top 20) and also hit #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
Childhood and beginning
Whittaker's parents, Edward and Viola, were originally from Staffordshire , England , where they owned and operated a grocery shop. His father had a motorcycle accident and the family moved to a farm near Thika, Kenya because of the warmer climate. His grandfather sang in various clubs and his father played the violin. Roger learned to play the guitar.
Whittaker was conscription|drafted into national service and spent two years in the Kenya Regiment . In 1956 he was demobilized and decided on a career in medicine. He enrolled at the University of Cape Town in South Africa .
He left the university after 18 months and joined the civil service education department to try teaching.
Recording and performing career
To further his teaching career, Whittaker moved to Britain in September 1959. For the next three years, he studied zoology , biochemistry , and marine biology at the Bangor University and received a Bachelor of Science|B.Sc. degree. He continued to sing in local clubs and released some of his songs on Flexi disc|flexi-discs included with the campus newspaper, the Bangor University Rag . Shortly afterwards, he was signed to Fontana Records who released his first professional single, "The Charge of The Light Brigade", in 1962.
In the summer of 1962, he appeared at a professional gig in Portrush , Northern Ireland. He landed his first major breakthrough when he was signed to appear on an Ulster Television show called This And That . His second single was a cover version of "Steel Men", released in June 1962.
Whittaker met Natalie O'Brien in the spring of 1964 and they married on 15 August of that year. They have five children: Emily (b. 28 May 1968), Lauren (b. 4 June 1970), Jessica (b. 14 February 1973), Guy (b. 15 November 1974), and Alexander (b. 7 April 1978). They now have nine grandchildren.
In 1966, Whittaker switched from Fontana to EMI's Columbia Records|Columbia label. His fourth single for the imprint was "Durham Town (The Leavin')", which in 1969 became Whittaker's first UK Top 20 hit. Whittaker's US label, RCA Victor , released the uptempo "New World In The Morning" in 1970, where it became a Top 20 hit in Billboard (magazine)|Billboard magazine's Easy Listening chart.
In the early 70's Whittaker took interest in the Nordic Countries when he recorded the single "Where the Angels Tread (Änglagård)" to the music of Evert Taube in 1972. In 1974 he partook in the Finnish Eurovision qualifications. The song " The Finnish Whistler " he performed in the qualifications later became famous in Finland as it was used as a title music for the popular Finnish YLE TV cooking program " Patakakkonen ".
1975 saw EMI release " The Last Farewell ", a track from his 1971 New World in The Morning album. It became his biggest hit and a signature song, selling more than 11 million copies worldwide. In 1979, Whittaker wrote the song "Call My Name" which reached the final of the UK Eurovision selection, A Song For Europe , performed by Eleanor Keenan and coming third. Whittaker recorded the song himself and the single charted in several European countries. Whittaker also established himself in country music with " I Love You Because (song)|I Love You Because " getting "into the lower reaches of the country chart"cite web|url= http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/whittaker_roger/bio.jhtml |title=Roger Whittaker-Biography |publisher=Cmt.com |date=22 March 1936 |accessdate=18 November 2011 in late 1983. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, Whittaker had success in Germany, with German language songs produced by Nick Munro. Unable to speak German language|German , Whittaker phonetical singing|sang the songs phonetically . He appeared on German and Danish TV several times, http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926455/ IMDb page on Roger Whittaker and was on the UK Top Of The Pops show 10 times in the early to mid 1970s.
In 1986, he published his autobiography , So Far, So Good, co-written with his wife.
In March 2006, Whittaker announced on his website that a 2007 Germany tour would be his last, and that he will limit future performances to "occasional concerts". Now more fluent in German, he was seen singing and was interviewed in German on Danish TV in November 2008.
In recent years he has been living in Eyrecourt , County Galway , Republic of Ireland|Ireland , close to the River Shannon .
Tours
In 1976, Whittaker undertook his first tour of the United States.
In 2003 he again toured Germany. After recovering from heart problems at the end of 2004, he started touring in Germany in 2005, and then in UK from May to July.
Awards
In his career to date, Whittaker has earned over 250 silver, gold and platinum albums.
He was part of a successful British team that won the annual Knokke music festival in Belgium , and won the Press Prize as the personality of the festival.
Ivor Novello awards (twice) for songwriting in 1971-72 and for "The Last Farewell" in 1975-76 (? ) (unconfirmed - e-mail query pending)
He was awarded a 'Gold Badge Award', from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA) in 1988. http://www.britishacademy.com/awards/GoldBadge/goldbadge3.htm British Academy website on award won by Roger Whittaker
He earned a 'Golden Tuning Fork' ( Goldene Stimmgabel in Germany) in 1986, based on record sales and TV viewer votes.
http://www.rogerwhittaker.de The Official German Fan Page
IMDb name|0926455
Persondata | NAME =Whittaker, Roger | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = Anglo-Kenyan musician | DATE OF BIRTH =22 March 1936 | PLACE OF BIRTH = Nairobi , Kenya , British Empire | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Whittaker, Roger Category:1936 births Category:Living people Category:Anglo-African people Category:English folk musicians Category:Whistlers Category:Kenyan musicians Category:Kenyan people of English descent Category:People from Nairobi Category:Schlager Category:University of Cape Town alumni Category:Kenya Regiment officers
