Rick Parfitt

Known for ActingBorn 1948-10-12Died 2016-12-24Woking, Surrey, England, UK

Richard John Parfitt, OBE (12 October 1948 – 24 December 2016) was an English musician, best known as a rhythm guitarist, singer and songwriter with rock band Status Quo. Parfitt began his career in the early 1960s, playing in pubs and holiday camps. He joined Status Quo in 1967 when they were looking for an additional singer. He wrote songs for the band and remained with them for 49 years. He occasionally guested with other bands, and recorded an unreleased solo album in 1985. In 2016, Parfitt temporarily retired from touring with the band due to ill health, and died in December of that year. His only solo album, Over and Out, was released posthumously in 2018. Richard John Parfitt was born in Woking, Surrey, on 12 October 1948. His father Richard was an insurance salesman "who was a drinker and a gambler", and his mother Lillian worked in cake shops. He described his upbringing as "wonderful", and described his childhood-self as a "typical naughty boy". He first started to learn to play the guitar at the age of 11. In 1963 Parfitt was playing guitar and singing in The Prince of Wales Feathers, a pub on Warren Street in Camden, London, when his father was approached by an agent from Sunshine Holiday Camp on Hayling Island, who gave Parfitt a performing job. At the camp Parfitt joined Jean and Gloria Harrison – performing as the double act The Harrison Twins – to form a cabaret trio called The Highlights. Following the season, the Harrison Twins' manager Joe Cohen – who had been one of the Keystone Cops – arranged for The Highlights to perform at Butlins in Minehead. Here, Parfitt met future Status Quo partner Francis Rossi, who was playing with Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan in a band called The Spectres (soon to be renamed Traffic Jam) – a forerunner to Status Quo. "I remember wandering over there one afternoon for the first time and watching them rehearse," Parfitt recalled. "I may still have been in my silver lamé suit, which I used to wear all the time. They were playing [Chuck Berry's] 'Bye Bye Johnny' and it sounded absolutely fantastic." After Parfitt befriended the band, their manager Pat Barlow invited him to join, as they needed another singer. In 1967, Traffic Jam changed their name to The Status Quo (they soon dropped the definite article and later still would often be known simply as 'Quo'), beginning Parfitt's almost 50-year career in the band. Early successes came with the Rossi-penned hit "Pictures of Matchstick Men". The single became the group's only Top 40 hit in the United States, peaking at number twelve on the Billboard Hot 100. Though the follow-up was the unsuccessful single, "Black Veils of Melancholy", they had a hit again the same year with a Marty Wilde and Ronnie Scott song, "Ice in the Sun", which climbed to number eight. The band's 1972 album Piledriver, which reached number 5, spent a total of 37 weeks on the UK Albums Chart. ... Source: Article "Rick Parfitt" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.Read more

Movies & web series

The BRIT Awards

Status Quo: The Frantic Four’s Final Fling - Live At The Dublin 02 Arena

Status Quo - Just Doin' It!

Status Quo - Aquostic - Live at the Roundhouse

Les Nuls, l'émission

Status Quo - Pictures Live at Montreux 2009

Queen: Champions of the World

Status Quo, Rockin' All Over The World

The Making of Do They Know It's Christmas?

An Audience with Billy Connolly

Status Quo: Aquostic - Live at The Roundhouse

Status Quo - Live at the BBC

Status Quo - Avo Session 2005

John Peel's Record Box

Top of the Pops, 1964 to 1975 - Big Hits

Going Live!

Live Aid

Top Gear

Status Quo - The Frantic Four Reunion

Status Quo - Perfect Remedy Tour 1989

Geld oder Liebe

Champs-Elysées

Surprise, Surprise

Top of the Pops

Hello Quo

Sacrée soirée

An Audience with...

Bula Quo!

Status Quo - Live at Zurich Airport

Status Quo: Accept No Substitute! - The Definitive Hits & More!

All Star Mr & Mrs

Live Aid Against All Odds

Status Quo - Live Legends

Status Quo: XS All Areas - The Greatest Hits

Status Quo – Live In Mexico Neza 2003

When Rock Ruled the World

Top of the Pops: The True Story

Status Quo – Live Alive Quo

Status Quo - Anniversary Waltz (A Celebration Of 25 Rockin' Years)

Status Quo - Rock 'Til You Drop

The Best of Cannon & Ball

Status Quo - End Of The Road '84

Status Quo - The Party Ain't Over Yet

Status Quo Reunion Tour 2013