Lonnie Donegan, father of skiffle, first global superstar of British pop and the first to popularise black music, has died on tour aged 71, it was announced yesterday.
His out-of-the blue hits in 1955 with versions of John Henry and Leadbelly's Rock Island Line at the age of 24 began a revolution in the charts and in the taste of the young.
He remains admired by generations of younger artists, including Mark Knopfler, Brian May and Van Morrison. A spokeswoman for Donegan said: "In a career that covered over 50 years, he inspired nearly every major musician alive today."
Donegan was due to sing in a tribute concert for George Harrison in London later this month. Paul McCartney once said of him: "When we were kids in Liverpool, the man who really started the craze for guitars was Lonnie Donegan.
"We studied his records avidly. We all bought guitars to be in a skiffle group. He was the man."
Donegan, who had a history of heart trouble, complained of feeling unwell after performing in Nottingham. He died in Peterborough at the home of friends.
His death ends a career which started when he formed a band with the jazzman Chris Barber in the early 1950s. Barber, who is touring in Germany, could not be contacted. Last night his longstanding friend and associate Vic Gibbons said no one should be sad that Donegan was still in harness when he died. "He loved performing. It was not something he had to do financially."
He added: "I think Chris will be particularly upset because their association has continued. There have been various anniversary concerts where they have reassembled the band complete with liniment and Zimmer frames".
Donegan, who called himself Lonnie in homage to the black blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, was the son of a Glasgow classical violinist. His father, often unemployed, moved the family to east London in 1933 and discouraged his son from a musical career.
Donegan bought his first guitar at 14, learning from BBC radio to play songs like Frankie and Johnny and Puttin' on the Style. These led him to the music of Josh White, Bessie Smith and Leadbelly.
In 1952 he formed a band with Barber and Ken Colyer, just deported from the US for playing with black musicians. "They did not think there could be money in it," Gibbons said. "The motive was commitment. They used to drive from London and Manchester and back the same day, for a £30 fee."
Donegan took the word skiffle, meaning party, from a US record sleeve. In 1955 a BBC pop show host attacked an album by the band for jazzing up a number by Gracie Fields.
Thanks to this the album sold well, prompting Decca to issue singles of Donegan's John Henry and Rock Island Line. These topped the British and US charts.
"Because the music was so new, people could not get it into their heads that it would last a long time," Gibbons said.
Donegan had a string of hits including novelty songs such as My Old Man's A Dustman, but by the mid-60s his glory days were over, and he retreated into comedy and cabaret.
Elton John, Ringo Starr and Brian May paid tribute by playing on Donegan's 1978 album Puttin' on the Style, and Donegan teamed up with Van Morrison for a 1999 recording, Skiffle Sessions.
In 1997 Donegan received a lifetime achievement award. In November 2000 he collected an MBE from Buckingham Palace. Donegan said: "When Prince Charles presented it to me, he said 'Not before time Lonnie, not before time'. And I said 'You're damn right, mate' - or words to that effect."