Joe Longthorne

Born in Hull on May 31, 1955, Joe Longthorne displayed performing talent while still a child. He devoted much of his early years to talent contests, an experience that opened the door to regular appearances on the television series Junior Showtime between 1970 and 1971. After placing as a finalist on Search For A Star in 1981, he soon became a familiar face on screen, hosting his own specials and later fronting a weekly series.

Songbook arrived in 1989, followed the next year by Especially For You and the seasonal collection Christmas Album. Three Australian tours and a string of well-received live shows preceded the chart-topping success of Live In Concert in 1994, which in turn prompted a run of video releases across the subsequent three years. Reflections appeared in 1999.

Momentum was halted in 2005 when Longthorne underwent a bone marrow transplant during his prolonged fight with Leukemia. Work began in 2007 on a third project with Tim Duncan; the resulting album, You & Me, reached listeners in 2008. A serious car accident in 2011 left him with a broken nose and fractured ribs, yet he received an MBE the following year. Health issues persisted, but he continued to tour with some regularity, issuing the live set Live: A Man & His Music in 2013 while producing no further studio recordings. A diagnosis of Throat Cancer came in 2014. As his health declined he largely withdrew from the stage, appearing publicly only for the celebration of his sixtieth birthday. Joe Longthorne died in 2019.