Peter Noone

His friend John Lennon sang "Remember remember the fifth of November" in the song "Remember" off of the John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band album, and on that day in 1947, the eternally young Peter Blair Denis Bernard Noone was born in Manchester, England. The son of Joan Blair Noone and Denis Patrick Noone, he was raised in a Roman Catholic family that included five children of diverse ages, brother Damon along with sisters Denise, Suzanne, and Louise. In a multi-dimensional career that has garnered respect from his colleagues and millions of fans worldwide, Peter Noone is the professional's professional. As a child, he appeared on the British television shows Coronation Street, Knight Errant, and Family Solicitor, and went on to study acting at the Manchester School of Music and Drama. In 1963, he joined a Manchester beat group, the Heartbeats, whose name was changed shortly thereafter to Herman & the Hermits and eventually shortened to Herman's Hermits." His career with that popular recording act sold well over 50 million records, at times eclipsing the Beatles themselves in sales. But it was Noone's voice and personality that distinguished him apart from the band he fronted; indeed, some of the recordings were Noone's performance on sessions produced by Mickie Most with other musicians providing the accompaniment. He charted in Britain as a solo act, recording a David Bowie tune with Bowie appearing with him on the U.K. show Top of the Pops. In the years that followed, there were former members of Herman's Hermits touring as well as Noone causing some confusion, but in 2001 Noone -- "the artist formerly known as Herman" -- obtained the rights to the name and is listed in Pollstar magazine in the new millennium as both Herman's Hermits and Peter Noone. The hassles with...