Roger Whittaker
Roger Whittaker was born in Nairobi, Kenya on March 22nd, 1936 and is the Pop Singer. At the age of 88, Roger Whittaker biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 88 years old, Roger Whittaker physical status not available right now. We will update Roger Whittaker's height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, and measurements.
Roger Whittaker (born 22 March 1936) is a British singer-songwriter and musician, who was born in Nairobi to English parents.
His music is an eclectic mix of folk music and popular songs in addition to radio airplay hits.
He is best known for his baritone singing voice and trademark whistling ability as well as his guitar skills. He is widely known for his version of "Wind Beneath My Wings" (1982), as well as his own compositions "Durham Town (The Leavin')" (1969) and "I Don't Believe in 'If' Anymore" (1970).
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 Hot 100 (it made the Top 20) and also hit No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.
His final top-charting hit was "Albany", which scored No. 1 in West Germany in 1982.
Personal life
Before moving on to a career in music, Whittaker studied medicine and trained as a teacher in his native Kenya. He also completed his National Service in the Kenya Regiment. He said that he was "stupid, selfish and angry" in his youth and that the army "made a man" out of him.
On 1 April 1989, Whittaker's parents (still living in Kenya) were subjected to a brutal attack by a gang of four men in which his mother was tortured for eight hours and his father was murdered. His mother moved back to England after the incident. Roger Whittaker said about the incident, "It will affect me for the rest of my life, but I believe we should all live without hate if we can".
In 1964, Roger met Natalie O'Brien, and they married in August. She has been Whittaker's manager since 1989. They have five children: two sons and three daughters (Emily, Lauren, Jessica, Guy and Alexander). Jessica became a presenter on VH-1. They now have 11 grandchildren. In 1986, he published his autobiography, So Far, So Good, co-written with his wife.
He moved to France in 2012. As of 2022 Whittaker is residing in Kenya, tending to his herd of zebras. He also has a summer home in the West Yorkshire village of Heptonstall.
Recording and performing career
Whittaker went to the United Kingdom in September 1959 to continue his teaching career. He specialized in zoology, biochemistry, and marine biology at University College of North Wales, obtained a Bachelor of Science degree while singing in local clubs, and performed on Flexi discs with the Bangor University Rag, and was released songs on Flexi discs.
He was signed to Fontana Records, which released his first commercial single, "The Charge of the Light Brigade," shortly after. (He is listed on the Fontana singles as "Rog Whittaker." Whittaker appeared in Portrush, Northern Ireland, during the summer of 1962. When he was contracted to appear on an Ulster television show called This and That, he had a breakthrough. His second album was a cover version of "Steel Men," which was released in June 1962.
Whittaker went from Fontana to EMI's Columbia label in 1966, and from there, he was branded Roger Whittaker. "Durham Town (The Leavin's)", Whittaker's first UK Top 20 hit in the UK Singles Chart in 1969, was his fourth single for the imprint. RCA Victor, Whittaker's US company, introduced "New World in the Morning" in 1970, where it became a Top 20 hit in Billboard's Best Listening poll. His downbeat theme song "No Blade of Grass," written for the film version of the same name that was performed in both the opening and ending titles, became his first film credit.
Whittaker took an interest in the Nordic countries early on when he recorded the single "Where the Angels Tread" (nglamarken) to Evert Taube's music in 1972. He appeared in the Finnish Eurovision qualification in 1974. He performed "The Finnish Whistler" in Finland, when it was used as a name music for the Finnish television cooking show Patakakkonen.
"The Last Farewell," EMI's 1975 New World track, was released in 1975. It became his biggest hit and a signature song, selling more than 11 million copies around the world. Whittaker's 1979 album "Call My Name" was released in the UK Eurovision selection "A Song For Europe," a song for Europe, performed by Eleanor Keenan and placing third. In several European countries, Whittaker recorded the song himself and the single charted. In late 1983, he became a "I Love You Because" in country music, raising "into the lower reaches of the country chart.
Whittaker has had success in Germany throughout the 1970s and 1980s, with German language songs written by Nick Munro. Whittaker performed the songs phonetically because he was unable to speak German. He appeared on German and Danish television numerous times, and he appeared on the UK Top of the Pops show ten times in the 1970s. The critics were not enthusiastic about Whittaker's German-language recordings, who described them as "meaningless folk music." Despite this, Whittaker released 25 albums in Germany and gained a large fan base in the region, where he says he has his most faithful followers," he said.
Whittaker's last tour in Germany will be his last, and he'll limit future appearances to "occasional concerts" in March 2006. He was seen on German television in November 2008 and was becoming more fluent in German. Whittaker confirmed that he had resigned from touring in 2013, but that he had written 18 new songs for an album, including "I still whistle very well."