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Ronnie Hilton (26 January 1926 - 20 February 2001) was an English singer and radio presenter.
Born Adrian Hill in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, Hilton left school at 14 and worked in an aircraft factory at the beginning of the Second World War, before being called up into the Highland Infantry. Following demobilisation in 1947, he became a fitter in a Leeds sewing plant.
He came to fame by supplying smoothly delivered cover versions, of popular American songs during the 1950s. His most enduring recordings were "No Other Love", and "A Windmill In Old Amsterdam". Ronnie Hilton was a favourite 1950s balladeer in the UK. Despite the prominence of rock and roll in his recording career, he amassed a formidable array of best-sellers in the UK Singles Chart, albeit mainly with cover versions of U.S. hit records. It must be pointed out that this was common practice at the time, and many British recording artistes followed this trend. His chart single recording career alone spanned from 1954 to 1965, which flew in the face of the rapidly changing trends of true 'pop music' vagrancies.
Nevertheless, Hilton's light operatic style, similar to fellow Hullensian, David Whitfield, was already by the mid 1950s being overtaken by events. By the time "No Other Love" dropped off the UK Singles Chart, Elvis Presley had clocked up his first three UK hit singles. Hilton also performed in three Royal Variety Performances.
Hilton kept on performing well into the 1960s, in summer seasons and Christmas shows, but knew that his number was up. He suffered a stroke in 1976, which hindered his progress for a time. He also encountered financial problems. Following his recovery, he presented "Sounds of the Fifties" a nostalgic radio series for BBC Radio 2. The British Academy of Song Composers and Authors honoured him with its gold medal for services to popular music in 1989. He died in Hailsham, East Sussex from another stroke, aged 75.
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