David Essex Tickets

About David Essex

The Early Years

David was born as David Cook in Plaistow, East London on the 23rd July 1947, the son of a docker and a pianist. David was a footballer of some note during his youth and was even a member of West Ham United's junior team. His dreams of becoming a professional footballer ended when he caught the music bug in his teens and started playing the drums and also singing for a local band.

Success

David cut his first record in 1965, called 'And The Tears Came Tumbling Down.' He was to release seven singles in the '60's and had a name change and his own band, David Essex and The Mood Indigo. After his success as the lead in 'Godspell', two years later, in 1973, he had a starring role in the film 'That'll Be The Day' and then a year later in the sequel, 'Stardust.' Also at this time he was having great success musically. During the course of time, his self-written song, 'Rock On,' reached number 5 on the Billboard 100 chart. The follow-up single, 'Lamplight', hit the UK top ten. Later in the 70's he was to have two UK number one hits with 'Gonna Make You a Star' and 'Hold Me Close.'

The Latter Years

In the late '70s, his success continued with a role as Che in the stage musical Evita and his recording of 'Oh What A Circus' from the show reached number 3 in the UK charts. He also starred in the film 'Silver Dream Racer' and had another hit with the theme song, 'Silver Dream Machine.' In all, he has had 10 UK top ten hits but remains relatively unknown in the USA. Into the '80s and David co-wrote and starred in the stage musical 'Bounty!' about the mutiny on the Bounty, which was a massive success for him. In 1999, he was awarded the OBE and to this day continues to record, perform, and tour.