Jimmy Bilsbury
Musical artist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Robert Bilsbury (2 November 1942[1] ā 10 March 2003) was an English singer and songwriter from Liverpool,[2] known as lead vocalist for the pop groups the Magic Lanterns and the Les Humphries Singers.
Jimmy Bilsbury | |
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Birth name | James Robert Bilsbury |
Also known as | Jimmy Pilsbury |
Born | (1942-11-02)2 November 1942 Liverpool, England |
Died | 10 March 2003(2003-03-10) (aged 60) Bonn, Germany |
Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
Formerly of | The Magic Lanterns Les Humphries Singers |
After appearing with the Ray Johnson Skiffle Group, the Nightboppers, the Beat Boys, the Sabres and the Hammers,[3] and singing and writing for the Magic Lanterns,[4] Bilsbury co-founded the Les Humphries Singers in 1969 in Munich, with fellow Briton Humphries. He was a member when they represented Germany in the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with "Sing Sang Song".[5] Bilsbury also performed with Megaton.[3]
Bilsbury also co-wrote "Belfast" in 1971 with singer songwriter Drafi Deutscher and Joe Menke[3] for Marcia Barrett, later a part of Frank Farian's disco formation, Boney M.. Farian also recorded a German version of "Belfast" with Gilla in 1976 before the Boney M. version in 1977 that became a hit.
Bilsbury, who according to Neue Revue had been living on social welfare, was found dead in his 8 square metres (86 sq ft) apartment in Bonn on 13 March 2003,[6] and the post mortem established that he had died three days earlier from heart failure. He was cremated and his ashes were buried in Gauting Waldfriedhof near Munich, at a ceremony attended by his 16-year-old son.[5][7]