Tommy Steele OBE (born Thomas William Hicks, 17 December 1936), is an English entertainer. Steele is widely regarded as Britain’s first teen idol and rock and roll star.

 When a ship Steele was serving on docked in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, he heard Buddy Holly and fell in love with rock and roll, turning his back on the British skiffle craze. He was discovered by freelance photographer John Kennedy, who believed Steele could be Britain’s answer to Elvis Presley. Later co-manager Larry Parnes was incorrectly credited with creating the stage name ’Tommy Steele.’ It was Steele who adapted the surname of his Scandinavian paternal grandfather, Thomas Stil-Hicks (pronounced Steel-Hicks), adding another E to the spelling.

 Steele shot quickly to fame in the UK as the frontman for a rock and roll band, the Steelmen, after their first single, ”Rock With the Caveman,” reached number 13 in the UK Singles Chart in 1956. Steele and other British singers would pick known hit records from the United States, record their cover versions of these songs, and release them in the UK before the American versions could enter the charts. Most of Steele’s 1950s recordings were covers of American hits, such as ”Singing the Blues” and ”Knee Deep in the Blues”. Although Steele never proved a serious threat to Presley’s popularity in the UK, he did well on the 1950s UK chart and ”Singing the Blues” got to Number 1 in the UK before Presley did so.

 Guy Mitchell was number 1 with ”Singing the Blues” on 4 January 1957 and Tommy Steele on 11 January 1957. Steele’s 1957 album, The Tommy Steele Story, was the first by a UK-based act to reach No. 1 in the UK. Only four months after his first chart presence, he was filming his life story. To do so, Steele and his songwriting collaborators, Lionel Bart and Mike Pratt, wrote twelve songs in seven days.His first three single releases were issued at a rate of one every three weeks. in 1957 Steele bought a four-bedroomed house in South London for his parents. In August 1959, Steele undertook a three-day concert visit to Moscow. Svenska Wikipedia har nästan inget så kolla istället English Wikipedia. 

Tommy Steele – Hey you 1957

 Tommy Steele – Tallahassee Lassie 1957

Tommy Steele – Singing the blues 1957