Folk singer/songwriter Roger Whittaker has died at the age of 87. Whittaker was born in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1936, while his parents were from Staffordshire, England. From then on the hits came, with 'Durham Town (The Leavin’) reaching the top 20 in the UK. In 1974, he performed at the Finnish Eurovision Song Contest qualifying rounds and his song 'The Finnish Whistler' became famous in Finland as it was used as the title music for the popular Finnish television cooking programme 'Patakakkonen'. Whittaker - who sold almost 50 million records during his career - retired with his wife Natalie in France in 2012.

Source: Irish Independent September 19, 2023 16:00 UTC