Dickie Pride

Dickie Pride (born October 21, 1941 in Croydon , England , † March 26, 1969 there ), actually Richard Charles Knellar , was a British pop musician. He was one of the artists Larry Parnes had under contract.

As a boy Richard Knellar attended the Royal College of Church Music in Croydon, where he was encouraged to pursue a career as an opera singer. He also had a skiffle group, the "Semi-Tones".

However, nothing came of a singing career at first. Knellar had various low-paying jobs when Larry Parnes was made aware of the 17-year-old with the amazing voice in late 1958. Parnes immediately signed the boy and gave him the stage name "Dickie Pride".

This was followed by tours, television appearances and in March 1959 the first single Slippin 'n' Slidin '. Despite its highly acclaimed live appearances, the single, as well as most of the subsequent recordings, remained commercially far below expectations. Only one Dickie Pride single ever made it into the top 30 of the charts - Primerose Lane was at number 28 for a week in October 1959.

Pride entered u. a. with the rest of the Parnes stable musicians, including Billy Fury , Georgie Fame and Joe Brown . Guitarist Albert Lee made his first professional stage appearance in 1960 as an accompanist for Pride.

In addition to mental problems, Pride came under the influence of drugs. After a dispute about the agreed fee, he separated from Parnes. He married in 1962 and his son was born in 1965. His musical career stalled. In 1967 he was admitted to a mental hospital for a lobotomy .

Dickie Pride was found dead in his bed on March 26, 1969. He died of a sleeping pill overdose at the age of 27 .

In 1999 Charles Langley wrote the play Pride With Prejudice about the tragic life of Dickie Pride.

Web links

• Biography of Dickie Pride (English)