Ray Burns (singer)

Burns entered showbusiness when a friend of the comedian Issy Bonn heard him singing in a barber shop;^[6] Bonn took Burns on as a dresser, taught him singing techniques, and had him perform a song during his stage shows.^[7] Burns' career took a step forward in 1949, when the orchestra leader Ambrose heard him sing at the Blue Lagoon club in London^[3] and offered him a job.^[8]

Burns was a regular singer with the BBC Show Band, under the leadership of Cyril Stapleton, in the 1950s,^[9] and recorded a number of singles for Columbia Records between 1953 and 1958, two of which reached the UK singles chart.^[3] The bigger hit, a cover of the David Holt/Bob Wells song "Mobile" (with the Eric Jupp Orchestra), which had been a hit in the United States for Julius La Rosa, reached number 4 in both the New Musical Express and Record Mirror^[10] charts in March 1955. The second, "That's How a Love Song Was Born" (with The Coronets), reached number 14 in the NME chart later in the year; at the time Record Mirror only had a top 10 chart, expanding to a top 20 in October 1955, just as the single dropped out of the NME top 20.^[11]

Burns' career turned to cabaret and smaller scale performances as the musical scene changed, but he made one final television appearance on Barrymore in the 1990s.^[12]

Burns married Tilly Gegendorf in Stepney in 1944.^[13] They had two children, Larry and Gillian. The latter performed with her father in a double act in the 1970s, and won an episode of New Faces in 1977.^[14]