Roger Whittaker

Roger Whittaker, born Roger Henry Brough Whittaker on March 22, 1936 in Nairobi, Kenya; died on September 13, 2023 in Castelsarrasin, France, was a British pop singer. pop singer songwriter and artistic whistler. He was successful in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, South Africa, Germany and Austria. His best-known songs include Albany, Farewell is a Sharp Sword, The Last Farewell, Durham Town and River Lady (A Little Goodbye).

Career

He had successfully completed his studies in zoology, biochemistry and marine biology at the University of Wales in Bangor – with the second-best degree ever awarded by the university. In 1962, he even received an honorary doctorate from the University of Wales. He had also been making music as a hobby for a long time. He made his first appearance in 1958 at the ‘Equator Club’ in Nairobi. In February 1962, he released his debut single ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’, followed by ‘Steelman’ in May and ‘Butterfly’ in December of the same year. These songs brought him his first successes.

His first public appearance in Europe took place in Portrush, Northern Ireland, in the summer of 1962. Whittaker’s debut album, ‘Dynamic!’, was released in 1967. Among other things, it contained the song ‘Mexican Whistler’, an instrumental number in which Whittaker only whistled the melody. This became popular on radio programs.

Whittaker had his greatest success in 1969 with the autobiographical song ‘Durham Town’ on his second studio album ‘This Is …’. Further successes followed in the 1970s. He had hits such as ‘The Last Farewell’, ‘River Lady’, ‘Indian Lady’ and ‘I Don’t Believe in If Anymore’, particularly in German-speaking countries. ‘The Last Farewell’ became his best-selling song and was the first of his singles to reach the top positions in the charts in Germany, Austria and the USA.

In the late 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s, Whittaker was particularly successful with German-language songs produced by Nick Munro. Hits such as ‘Albany’ (1981), ‘Abschied ist ein scharfes Schwert’ (1984), ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Joana’ (1991) and ‘Aber was das kostet’ (1992) conquered the charts. He appeared regularly on German television, was a guest on various music programs and went on major tours. His last studio album ‘Wunder’ was released in September 2012 and reached number 70 in the German album charts. In 2013, he officially ended his singing career with a farewell tour.

Whittaker was also known as an artistic whistler. He created well-known pieces such as the ‘Mexican Whistler’ (1966), the ‘Irish Whistler’, the ‘Australian Whistler’ and the ‘Finnish Whistler’ (1970). His Henri Quatre beard became a trademark, which he adopted at the beginning of his career to make his face more distinctive. His fans included former US President George Bush Senior, at whose golden wedding he sang.

Roger Whittaker has written hundreds of songs. Whittaker has written songs in English, German and even Kiswahili. However, those that are known in German-speaking countries were not written by him, but were mostly written by producer Nick Munro. Roger has also used the services of Frank Ramond as well.

Awards

Roger Whittaker has received over 250 record awards and sold around 50 million records worldwide. He has won prizes such as the Press Prize at the Song Festival in Knokke and the Golden Tuning Fork in Germany. His musical legacy was honored with a platinum tuning fork in 2006

Private life and death

Roger Whittaker was the son of Edward Whittaker, a general merchant, and his wife Viola from Staffordshire, England. They moved to Kenya, where Roger was born. After leaving school, he studied zoology, biochemistry and marine biology at Bangor University in Wales, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree.

Roger Whittaker was married to Natalie O’Brien and had five children. In 2012, they moved to Saint-Cirq-Lapopie in the south of France. His life ended tragically when he died on September 13, 2023 at the age of 87 as a result of a stroke.

Studio albums

• 1970 I Don’t Believe in If Anymore
• 1971 New World in the Morning
• 1975 The Last Farewell and Other Hits, The Last Farewell
• 1976 A Little Goodbye, Reflections of Love
• 1978 Roger Whittaker Sings the Hits
• 1979 When I Need You
• 1980 My German album, Mirrors of My Mind, Voyager, With Love
• 1982 There is still time to cry
• 1983 Typical Roger Whittaker
• 1984 Lucky that you exist
• 1985 You belong to me
• 1986 The Skye Boat Song
• 1987 Today I am poor – today I am rich
• 1988 You are not alone
• 1990 Just the two of us, All roads lead to you
• 1991 My heart beats only for you
• 1992 Voice of the heart
• 1993 Gift from heaven
• 1994 Longing for love
• 1995 A beautiful day with you
• 1996 Simply Living
• 1998 Back to love
• 2000 Wonderfully safe
• 2002 More than ever
• 2004 My most beautiful dream
• 2008 Love never ends
• 2010 So many years with you
• 2012 Miracle