Rock and roll star Wee Willie Harris, real name Charles William Harris has died. Harris was born on 25 March 1933 and passed away on Thursday, 27 April 2023. He was 90 years.
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Confirming his death, Sheila, his wife of 47 years told The Sun:
“He was a lovely man. A lovely husband. But it was music all the way with him.
“He was just such a brilliant man. He inspired so many – including Paul McCartney.
“He was an absolute sensation. He will be so, so missed by so many.
“He could still sing right up until the end and was always a perfect gentleman.”
Though a cause of death was not made known, it is very likely that he died of natural causes.
Best known for his energetic stage shows and TV performances starting in the 1950s, when he was known as “Britain’s wild man of rock ‘n’ roll”, Harris also inspired John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
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When he performed in Liverpool in 1958, Paul McCartney and John Lennon reportedly stood in line to get his autograph.
He joined a UK tour in May 1960 that also included Conway Twitty, Freddy Cannon, and Johnny Preston.
In the 1960s, he continued to record for HMV, Polydor, and Parlophone and perform on cruise ships in the UK and other countries.
He was a resident of Prestwich, close to Manchester, in the middle of the 1970s, and after Ian Dury mentioned him in the song “Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3,” he made a comeback as a nostalgia act in the late 1970s.
In 2000, Harris released Twenty Reasons To Be Cheerful, an album he later dedicated to Dury. In 1999, his early recordings were also made available on CD.
Harris made a “mystery guest” appearance on the comedy music quiz show Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2005.
He spoke about rock & roll in Britain in an interview with Melvyn Bragg six years later for the Reel History of Britain series.
2018 saw the release of I Go Ape! – The Wee Willie Harris Story by Rob Finnis, a 30-track CD with the greatest of Harris’ rock and roll recordings and an 88-page illustrated biography.
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