Lonnie Donegan
British skiffle singer (1931–2002)

Summary
Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought up in England, Donegan began his career in the British trad jazz revival, but transitioned to skiffle in the mid-1950s, rising to prominence with a hit recording of the American folk song "Rock Island Line", which helped spur the broader UK skiffle movement.
Originally created by Camembert
11/4/2002, 7:20:54 PM
Modified
5/2/2026, 7:56:13 AM
Recent revisions
/* Starring in pantomime */ added Scottish debut
added info on 2nd marriage
info re pantomime appearance
/* Quotations */ Added quotation
/* Legacy */Corrected misspelling. It's intended to point, humorously, to the Goon Show's Spike Milligan, as well as Donegan.
Clean up/copyedit
Added business with Justin Hayward.
Move 1 url. [[User:GreenC/WaybackMedic_2.5|Wayback Medic 2.5]] per [[WP:URLREQ#guardian.co.uk]]
added poorly
fix reference spacing ([[MOS:REFPUNCT]])
/* Personal life */Fixed unnecessary dot
Move 1 url. [[User:GreenC/WaybackMedic_2.5|Wayback Medic 2.5]] per [[WP:URLREQ#bbc.co.uk misc]]
fixing link to correct page
/* Personal life */ punctuation
/* top */OBE is an appointment (to an order of chivalry)
/* Trad jazz */ Comma added
Rescuing orphaned refs ("British Hit Singles & Albums" from rev 1304413327)
/* Discography */ Material [[WP:SPLIT]] to [[Lonnie Donegan discography]].