Billy Fury

British performer Billy Fury had seen some regional success as an Elvis-inspired teenage troubadour, but his big break came in 1958, in a seemingly Hollywood-scripted moment. He arrived backstage at a music hall to meet and audition for Larry Parnes, a local rock impresario whose touring "extravaganzas" provided a training ground for up-and-coming artists. Fury was asked to sing some songs, right then and there, on the show. He won over the crowd, was hired for the rest of the tour, and was offered a Decca recording contract soon after. Though he wrote songs in a rockabilly style, Fury soon adopted a suave balladeer persona that took him all the way to number two on the U.K. pop charts. He had many Top 20 singles in England in the '60s, placing him in the hit-making ranks of the Beatles and Cliff Richard.

• rock
• pop
• rock and roll
• 1950s