David Essex

David Essex (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English singer-songwriter and actor.

Essex was born in Plaistow (now a neighbourhood in the London Borough of Newham, included within Greater London) on 23 July 1947.

His father, Albert, was an East End docker and his mother, Olive (née Kemp), was a self-taught pianist and an Irish Traveller.

His grandfather, Thomas Kemp, was nicknamed "Philimore", which was the anglicised version of "Philly Mor" (Irish for "Big Philly").

During early years, at times the family was destitute.

When his father had to enter hospital for bronchitis, Essex and his mother were forced to move to a workhouse; later the family was moved to temporary housing.

Essex was two years old when his parents moved out of the overcrowded home the family was sharing with relatives, to Canning Town where he grew up.

Essex attended Star Lane Primary School.

He loved playing football and did not answer any of the questions in the Eleven plus exam for entry into a grammar school, so that he could ensure he attended Shipman County Secondary School where he knew they played the game.

He later attended The Warren secondary modern in Whalebone Lane Chadwell Heath when his parents moved to Marks Gate Estate, The He was also a member of West Ham United Juniors for a while, and dreamed of one day being a professional player.

He then also became interested in music and played drums with a local band (China Plates), before becoming a singer.

In his teens he moved to Marks Gate near Chadwell Heath and Romford in Essex.

He then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years, and released a further seven singles in the 1960s.

He also recorded two songs, "A Rose" and "Leon and John and Billy and Me" which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates.

He made his first record, titled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down", for the Fontana label in 1965.

In the 1970s, Essex emerged as a performer of some note.

His first notable acting role, aside from small appearances in the films Assault and All Coppers Are..., was the lead in the stage musical Godspell in 1971 at the age of 23.

From 1973 to 1994, he attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums.

Internationally, Essex had the most success with his 1973 single "Rock On".

He has also had an extensive career as an actor.

Two years later, he starred in the film That'll Be the Day (1973) and recorded his international hit single, the self-penned "Rock On", in the same year.

In December 1973, Essex appeared in the stage version of Tommy at London's Rainbow Theatre.

It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1974.

It was nominated for a Grammy and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.

A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart.

Contrary to a claim made in his own biography, his first concert was at the Granada in East Ham on Saturday 2 November 1974, and not at the Odeon.

His biggest hits during this decade included two UK number one singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975).

He also appeared in Stardust, a 1974 sequel to That'll Be the Day.

The title song was another Top 10 hit.

According to The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles, he was voted the number one British male vocalist in 1974, and was a teen idol for more than a decade.

In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song "Yesterday" for the musical documentary All This and World War II.

Essex's pop idol looks gave him a strong female fan base, and his British tours created scenes of hysteria reminiscent of Beatlemania.

In 1978, he appeared on Jeff Wayne's musical version of The War of the Worlds, as the Artilleryman.

In the UK the two-record set remains a best-seller.

In the same year, Essex played the character Che in the original production of Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Evita, and his recording of the show's "Oh What a Circus" reached number 3.

As the best known of the principal performers, Essex actually received top billing, above Elaine Paige whose stardom seemingly arrived overnight with her casting in the show.

His contract required him to remain with the show for just 5 1⁄2 months during which, unusually and as Essex had predicted, his understudy, Nigel Planer, was never required to perform.

Two years later, he starred in the motorcycle racing film Silver Dream Racer; and the soundtrack song "Silver Dream Machine" was a top 5 hit in the UK Singles Chart.

Essex, a keen motorcyclist, waived his fee for the then-new 1980 electric-start Triumph Bonneville he had contracted to advertise on behalf of the struggling Triumph motorcycle workers' co-operative.

In 1981, he starred in Childe Byron, a play staged at the Young Vic theatre.