RIP Roger Whittaker
"The Last Farewell" singer died at 87 after a long illness.
According to The New York Times, Roger Whittaker died September 12th in a hospital near Toulouse, France. He was 87.
Whittaker, a popular folk singer worldwide, actually has an Atlanta connection… of sorts.
In 1975, an Atlanta disc jockey at WSB-AM 750 started playing “The Last Farewell” upon insistence of his wife, who had heard the song in Canada. After he played the song on the air a few times, listeners took notice and the song would eventually become Whittaker’s biggest American hit, peaking at #19 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.1
Other Whittaker songs included “Durham Town” and my personal favorite “New World In The Morning”.
Whittaker was born in Nairobi, then-British Kenya, in 1936 to parents who immigrated to Kenya from England. After completing national service in the Kenya Regiment, he moved to South Africa where he initially was a pre-med student at the University of Cape Town.2
In 1959, Whittaker moved to Britain and earned a Bachelor of Science degree at the University College of North Wales. It was during his time in Britain that he developed his interest in music, performing at local clubs. Upon advice of one of his professors, he decided to pursue music full time.3
Here are my all-time favorite Whittaker songs that are in regular rotation on our Live365 station “Chillin’ With Steve”…
“The Last Farewell”
“New World In The Morning” (my personal favorite)
“You Are My Miracle”
Our prayers are with the Whittaker family and we thank Roger for sharing his gift of music with us.
On that note, I leave you with my favorite Whittaker song…
RIP Roger Whittaker.
Peace Out, Y’all.
"The Last Farewell”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_Farewell
“Roger Whittaker”, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Whittaker
Bio, Roger Whittaker’s Official Website https://www.rogerwhittaker.com/bio.htm