William John Clifton Haley was born in Highland Park, Michigan on July 6th, to William and Maude Haley. Bill had one sister, Margaret, who was born two years earlier. The Haleys had moved to Detroit from Firebrick, Kentucky where William Sr. found work in a nearby service station as a mechanic while his wife gave piano lessons in their home for twenty-five cents an hour. Maude Haley, a woman of strong religious convictions, had come to America with her family from Ulverston in Lancastshire, England before the First World War. Haley's father played the banjo and mandolin and although he couldn't read music he had an ear for Country songs and was able to pick out any tune he wanted. When Bill was seven, the family moved to Wilmington, Delaware and soon after he was playing his own home-made cardboard guitar. At thirteen young Bill received his first real guitar and his father taught him to play the basic notes and chords. It was at this time he began his dream of becoming a singing cowboy like the ones he idolized every Saturday afternoon at the movie houses. In June of , just before his fifteenth birthday, Haley left school after finishing the
Born William John Clifton Haley, Jr., July 6, , in Highland Park, MI; died of heart failure February 9, , in Harlingen, TX; son of William John Clifton Haley (a farmer) and a church organist mother; married; several children. Singer, songwriter, guitar player, and bandleader, Formed band Four Aces of Western Swing, , and performed on WPWA Radio, Chester, PA, ; changed group name to Bill Haley and His Saddlemen, , released first single, "Rocket 88" on independent label, ; changed group name to Bill Haley and the Comets. Recorded with Essex label, , had first hit, "Crazy Man, Crazy," ; moved to Decca Records, , had multi-million seller with "Rock Around the Clock," Music was featured in the film "The Blackboard Jungle," , "Rock Around the Clock," , and "Don't Knock the Rock," Made numerous live appearances in the United States, Europe, Mexico, and Central and South America, Membership of the Comets between and included John Grande (guitar), Bill Williamson (guitar), Marshall Lytle (bass), Dick Richards (drums), Joey D'Ambrosia (tenor saxophone), Al Rex (bass), Ralph Jones (drums), Rudy Pompelli (tenor saxophone), Frank Beecher, John Kay, and Dave Holly.
Bill Haley is known the wo
Bill Haley facts: The songs, life and death of the Comets leader and rock and roll pioneer
30 April ,
Blackboard Jungle – movie trailer featuring ‘Rock Around The Clock’
He didn't invent rock and roll, but Bill Haley had the genre's first megahit.
The story of rock and roll is a contentious tale of swirling origins, with blues, jazz and other Black genres of the s on rubbing shoulders with country music and other styles to truly explode in the s.
While he certainly didn't create rock and roll, Bill Haley (& his Comets) certainly played a part in popularising it, most of all with 'Rock Around The Clock'.
That song actually took a full year and a spot on a movie soundtrack to become a success, but was followed by a run of massive singles that helped bring rock and roll to the masses and cemented it as a true phenomenon.
But how much do you know about Bill Haley himself?
Read on for everything you ever wanted to know about the Comets bandleader.
When was Bill Haley born and where did he grow up?
William John Clifton Haley was born on July 6, , in Highland Park, Michigan to Kentucky-born dad William Albert Haley and mum Maude Green,
"On your mark! (On your mark!) Get set! (Get set!) Now ready! (Ready!) GO!!!"note The line-up of the Comets. Left to right: Rudy Pompilli, Billy Williamson, Al Rex, Johnny Grande, Ralph Jones, Franny Beecher. Top: Bill Haley.
Five, six, seven o'clock, eight o'clock rock
Nine, ten, eleven o'clock, twelve o'clock rock
We're gonna rockaroundthe clock tonight!"
- "Rock Around the Clock", the band's Signature Song
A pioneering American Rock & Roll band, led by Bill Haley (–), the Comets are credited with popularizing rock & roll to an international young white audience, thanks to their biggest hit and Signature Song: "Rock Around the Clock". They had two other major hits with "See You Later Alligator" and "Shake, Rattle and Roll", scored dozens of smaller hits around the world between and
Haley was born in Highland Park, Michigan and worked in radio, primarily in the Philadelphia region, while trying to launch his musical career. Initially a member of the western swing group The Down Homers, he formed his first country music group, the Four Aces of Western Swing, circa In this group evolved into the Saddlemen.
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