The late Fifties gave birth to one of rock and roll¹s greatest entertainers, Roy Young, with his trademark boogie-woogie piano and vocal style that is best described as a mixture between Little Richard, Ray Charles and Joe Cocker.

Roy Young, one of Rock´s most respected pioneers, was influenced by such Boogie players as Meade Lux Lewis, Pete Johnson and Albert Ammons at a very young age.

He left school at the early age of 14, and by the age of 18, joined the Merchant Navy to travel the world. He performed many shows for the crew and passengers with pianist Russ Conway who later got into the music business himself with his first No.1 hit 'Sidesaddle¹. During a short stay in Australia, Roy saw the film 'Blackboard Jungle¹ featuring the theme song from Bill Haley, 'Rock Around The Clock¹. Roy was so excited that he couldn´t wait to return to England so he could share his new found Rock and Roll with the British audience, which he did with a vengeance.
 
It was harder to get into rock 'n' roll than he anticipated. He spent at least 2-3 months walking around London visiting different agencies. He eventually signed with 'Carna Variety Agency', Jack Falen, and on that very day, found himself being dubbed 'Roy Rock'em Young' and performing his first professional engagement with 'Johnny Duncan and the Bluegrass Boys', a well known skiffle band from America.

In the late 50´s Roy auditioned for the one hour Rock and Roll TV show, 'Oh Boy' with famous British producer, Jack Good, who was also a Little Richard fan. Roy performed a Richard song and was immediately hired, only to go on and become 'England´s Little Richard¹. He later followed it up with a series of Rock and Roll shows for the BBC entitled, ¹Drumbeat', backed by The John Barry Seven. During this time he was constantly releasing singles on the Fontana-/Phillips label.

Roy then began extensive tours throughout England, Ireland and Scotland with 'Cliff Richard and The Shadows'. He followed that playing clubs, theatres, variety shows and cabaret dinner clubs all over England as 'Roy Young', which included the 'Two ii´s' coffee bar in London where many famous Rock and Roll stars were discovered.

By 1961, a new generation of music had begun and Hamburg, Germany was the place to be. Young’s music had reached the European market scene by this time where he regularly played the legendary stages of Germany. Along with Tony Sheridan, and Ringo Starr they formed “The Beat Brothers”, at the Top Ten Club to become the house band.

In the spring of 1962, Young was offered the very first contract to appear at Hamburg’s famous Star-Club where Young and Sheridan formed the Star Combo and became the Star Club’s first house band. As well as performing, Young was hired by the club to enlist the talent, and he did, of such acts as The Beatles, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, Gene Vincent, Bill Haley and Jerry Lee Lewis among others. It was here that a dynamic friendship began between Roy and The Beatles and before long they enlisted Young to play keyboard and sing back-up vocals with the band.

In the same year, Beatles manager Brian Epstein approached Young with an offer to return to England to procure an international record contract with The Beatles. It was this record that ultimately thrust The Beatles into international superstardom. Unfortunately, Young was in the middle of a three-year exclusive contract with the Star-Club and regretfully turned down the offer.

Young eventually returned to England where he joined Cliff Bennett and the Rebel Rousers, who were managed by Brian Epstein. They joined The Beatles on their 1966 tour of Germany and later worked with the band to produce a version of “Got to Get You Into My Life”, where Paul McCartney joined Roy on keyboards.

Young met Laurie O’Leary who recognized his talent and persuaded him to form The Roy Young Band. The band released numerous albums throughout the seventies under such labels as E.M.I., Columbia, Ember, Philips (Germany), Parlophone, Screen Gems Columbia, Fontana (Philips), RCA Victor and British MCA (Decca G.B.) including a live recording during a British tour of Roy and Chuck Berry, 'My Dingaling' which reached number 1 in the British charts.

In 1974, Young was in England, recording his latest album with the help of his friend Jeff Beck, when he received a phone call from David Bowie in Los Angeles, asking him to join him there to record his “Fame” album. Owing to his recording commitment, Roy was unable to commit to the project. One year later, he joined him at the La Chateau, Paris, France, where they recorded David’s “Low” album.

In 1976, Young moved abroad and toured The Roy Young Band throughout Canada and the USA. He also teamed up with the legendary British blues artist Long John Baldry for several years. John asked Roy to become his manager which he did for two years. At this time John and Kathy MacDonald had an international hit with 'You¹ve Lost That Loving Feeling'.

During the 80¹s, Ian Hunter, Mick Ronson and Roy toured throughout Canada and America after ex Roy Young Band member and Foreigner drummer, Dennis Elliott, introduced them in New York. Roy was also doing some producing at this time. Throughout this period, he spent several years in Miami, which found him at concerts with some of his old mates such as Gerry and the Pacemakers, Peter Noone, Eric Burdon, The Hollies, The Searchers, Manfred Mann and The Troggs.

In 1995, Young invited members of KC and the Sunshine Band to join him to headlined a concert at the Star-Club reunion at the New Theatre in Hamburg along with The Pete Best Band and Cliff Bennett and The Rebel Rousers. Later that year, he returned to England to reunite with Tony Sheridan (The Beat Brothers) and Howie Casey (Paul McCartney’s “Wings” and “The Roy Young Band”) to record a CD and video entitled “Legend, history of The Beat Brothers with The Beatles.” Young remained in Europe to make a personal appearance with Yoko Ono at John Lennon’s art show.

In 1996, Roy was asked to represent Canada to play John Lennon’s Steinway for a charitable event in support of The Abused Children Foundation in Toronto, Canada where it was on exhibition for a month at the CN tower. This piano has now been purchased by George Michael.

During the late 90¹s, Roy recorded tracks at QED studio in Toronto, Canada engineered/co-produced by Dave Beatty and Troy Pless. For the first time, some of those recordings can be heard on his new double CD, 'Roy Young...the best of 50 Years'.

Roy also completed a tribute to George Harrison, Never Give Up which were the first words George would always say to Roy when they met. His sister Louise explained that these were the words of encouragement that their father often repeated to his children.

In 2002, Roy appeared at the 40th Anniversary of the Star-Club in Hamburg, Germany, where he performed to a sold out concert. While in Germany, he met the famous writer, Dennis Morgan. Dennis has had over 40 No. 1 hits with Rod Stewart, Garth Brooks, Aretha Franklin, George Michael, Eric Clapton, Faith Hill, Vince Gill etc. Dennis was so inspired by Roy’s voice he dropped all of his engagements to immediately start writing a new CD for Roy, entitled 'Still Young'. It includes some incredible Rock¹n¹roll tracks, Roy at his blues ballad best and a tribute to The Beatles, 'Strawberry Fields', a vocal duet with Dennis.
Available to buy from the CDs & Merchandise page.

The next year Roy decided to form a new StarCombo including, Tony Newman (Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Crystal Gayle, etc), Howie Casey (Wings, Roy Young Band, etc) Johnny Gustafson (Roxy Music, Big Three, etc) and Brian Griffiths (Big Three, Maurice Gibb, etc). A four song CD was recorded in Toronto, Canada titled, 'The Lost Tribe of Rock and Roll'. Two of the songs are featured on his new double CD 'Roy Young...the best of 50 Years'. Available to buy and download from the CDs & Merchandise page.

Roy has recently moved back to his native England to establish his role in history as British pioneer of Rock and Roll, the best Rock and Roll piano player this country has ever produced, and the man with vocals as sensitive as Ray Charles.

He is currently working with Phillip Goodhand-Tait of Span TV (www.pg-t.com) to bring Roy's legendary contribution to the fans. It was Philip's foresight to bring together all of Roy's recordings from the last 50 years into a best of CD, and to keep the sound of the early recordings as authentic as possible. Phillip introduced Roy to Peter Purnell at Angel Air Records and they have now released a double CD, 'Roy Young... the best of 50 Years', which includes a 16 page booklet.