Frank Ifield

Francis Edward Ifield (30 November 1937 – 18 May 2024) was an Australian country music singer and guitarist who often incorporated yodelling into his music.

Born in the United Kingdom, Ifield grew up in rural Australia, where he started performing hillbilly music in his teens. He released singles which were successful in Australia and New Zealand. He returned to the UK in 1959 where he had four number-one hits on the UK singles chart in the early 1960s with his cover versions of "I Remember You", "Lovesick Blues", "The Wayward Wind" and "Confessin' That I Love You".

In 1986, he contracted pneumonia, which resulted in removal of part of a lung and damage to his vocal cords. He relocated to Sydney in 1988 and was unable to sing or yodel for years as he recovered.

In 2003, Ifield was inducted into the Australian Roll of Renown. Ifield was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame at the ARIA Music Awards of 2007. In June 2009, he was presented with the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to the arts as an entertainer".

Frank Ifield was born on 30 November 1937 in Coundon, Coventry to Australian parents Richard Joseph Ifield (1909–1982) and Hannah Muriel (née Livesey) (c. 1916–2012), as one of seven sons. His parents had travelled to England in 1936, where his father was an inventor and engineer who created the Ifield fuel pump, used in jet aircraft, for Lucas Industries.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.