There can be no doubt that the best-known sons of the city of Liverpool are The Beatles. The group first formed in 1960 and played at the city's Cavern Club, originally bearing the name of The Quarrymen. All four members of the group were born in the city. Lead guitarist and vocalist George Harrison (1943-2001) also formed the supergroup The Traveling Wilburys, together with Roy Orbison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. Drummer Ringo Starr (born Richard Starkey in 1940) joined the band in 1962, replacing the original drummer Pete Best. During the 1980s Starr narrated the TV series Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends for children's television. Vocalist and guitarist John Lennon (1940-1980) combined his talents with those of the fourth member of the band, vocalist and bass-player Paul McCartney, to become one of the most successful songwriting partnerships in musical history. All four Beatles were awarded the MBE in 1965, but Lennon returned his medal four years later in protest against Britain's support of American involvement in the war in Vietnam and against Britain's involvement in the civil war in Nigeria. Lennon was murdered in New York in 1980. Lennon's songwriting partner Paul McCartney (now Sir James Paul McCartney) was born in 1942. His song Yesterday (written in 1965) has been covered by more than 2,200 artists, making it the most-covered title in the history of recorded music. In the late 1960s it was rumoured that McCartney had been killed in a car crash and had been secretly replaced by William Campbell (the winner of a Paul McCartney look-alike contest), but this rumour was later denounced as being a hoax.
Paul McCartney's younger brother Michael (Peter Michael McCartney, born in Liverpool in 1944) is also a talented performer. Together with John Gorman and Roger McGough he formed the 1960s comedy group The Scaffold, whose best-known hits include Thank You Very Much and Lily The Pink (the latter reaching Number One in the British pop charts in December 1968). Known professionally as Mike McGear, he has also worked for many years as a professional photographer, and was once dubbed "Flash Harry" by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein because of his fondness for the electronic flashgun.
One of The Scaffold's other members, Roger McGough (born in Liverpool's northern suburb of Litherland in 1937), has more recently found further renown as a performance poet. In 2011 he took over the presidency of The Poetry Society and is affectionately known as Liverpool's Poet Laureate. McGough also wrote much of the humorous dialogue in The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine, but is contribution is not acknowledged in the film's credits. He now records voice-overs for commercials and also presents the programme Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4.
The singer-songwriter Ian McCullough, born in Liverpool in 1959, is best-known for being the frontman for the band Echo & the Bunnymen (formed in 1978). Echo was allegedly the name given to the drum-machine which formed part of the band's original line-up. The machine was subsequently replaced by a live drummer, Pete de Freitas, in 1979.
Amongst the daughters of the city, perhaps the best-known is the entertainer, singer, actress and presenter Cilla Black. Born in 1943 as Priscilla Maria Veronica White, her early career was assisted by The Beatles, whom she had first met when she was working at the Cavern Club. Her debut single Love of the Loved was written by the Lennon-McCartney partnership.
Sir Simon Rattle, born in Liverpool in 1955, has achieved world-wide renown in the field of classical music. He became famous as the conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and since 2002 has been the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Another son of Liverpool, John Bishop (born in 1966), has recently achieved fame and popularity as a TV presenter and stand-up comedian.
And one of the most famous (or infamous) characters of English literature - none other than Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights - made his first appearance in Liverpool.
Paul McCartney's younger brother Michael (Peter Michael McCartney, born in Liverpool in 1944) is also a talented performer. Together with John Gorman and Roger McGough he formed the 1960s comedy group The Scaffold, whose best-known hits include Thank You Very Much and Lily The Pink (the latter reaching Number One in the British pop charts in December 1968). Known professionally as Mike McGear, he has also worked for many years as a professional photographer, and was once dubbed "Flash Harry" by the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein because of his fondness for the electronic flashgun.
One of The Scaffold's other members, Roger McGough (born in Liverpool's northern suburb of Litherland in 1937), has more recently found further renown as a performance poet. In 2011 he took over the presidency of The Poetry Society and is affectionately known as Liverpool's Poet Laureate. McGough also wrote much of the humorous dialogue in The Beatles' animated film Yellow Submarine, but is contribution is not acknowledged in the film's credits. He now records voice-overs for commercials and also presents the programme Poetry Please on BBC Radio 4.
The singer-songwriter Ian McCullough, born in Liverpool in 1959, is best-known for being the frontman for the band Echo & the Bunnymen (formed in 1978). Echo was allegedly the name given to the drum-machine which formed part of the band's original line-up. The machine was subsequently replaced by a live drummer, Pete de Freitas, in 1979.
Amongst the daughters of the city, perhaps the best-known is the entertainer, singer, actress and presenter Cilla Black. Born in 1943 as Priscilla Maria Veronica White, her early career was assisted by The Beatles, whom she had first met when she was working at the Cavern Club. Her debut single Love of the Loved was written by the Lennon-McCartney partnership.
Sir Simon Rattle, born in Liverpool in 1955, has achieved world-wide renown in the field of classical music. He became famous as the conductor of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, and since 2002 has been the principal conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic.
Another son of Liverpool, John Bishop (born in 1966), has recently achieved fame and popularity as a TV presenter and stand-up comedian.
And one of the most famous (or infamous) characters of English literature - none other than Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights - made his first appearance in Liverpool.
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