Shakin Stevens, whose real name is Michael Barratt, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He became famous in the 1980s and was the UK’s best-selling singles artist of that decade. He started his career in the late 1960s but didn’t achieve commercial success until 1980.
He is known for his songs that sound like 1950s rock and roll and pop, and he had many hits in the UK. He had 33 songs in the Top 40 chart, including four number one hits: “This Ole House,” “Green Door,” “Oh Julie,” and “Merry Christmas Everyone.”
His Christmas song “Merry Christmas Everyone” is still popular during the holiday season. His last song to reach the Top 40 was “Trouble” in 2005. Let’s read about his brief biography and personal life below.
Shakin Stevens Biography
Michael Barratt, also known as Shakin Stevens, is a Welsh singer who was born on March 4, 1948, in Cardiff, Wales. ((tims.blackcat.nl)) He has been active in the music industry since 1968 and is known for his rockabilly rock and roll style. Throughout his career, he has been signed to various record labels, including Parlophone, CBS Records International, Epic, and Polydor. He continues to perform and make music to this day at the age of 75.
Family Background | Education
Shakin Stevens was born Michael Barratt in Cardiff, Wales, as the youngest of 11 children. His father was a First World War veteran who worked in the building trade. Michael grew up in Ely, Cardiff and formed his first amateur rock and roll band in the mid-1960s with his school friends.
They performed gigs in the local Cardiff and South Wales area, under different names like the Olympics, the Cossacks, and finally, the Denims. He was the youngest of thirteen children born to Jack and May Barratt. ((en.wikipedia.org))
Michael worked as a milkman in the late 1960s, and he lived in a flat which was later demolished. Shakin Stevens was associated with the Young Communist League, but he said that it was because the person booking the band’s gigs was a member of the organization.
Wife | Children
Shakin Stevens was married to Carole Dunn for 42 years and they had three children together: Jason, Dean, and Paula. They divorced in 2009, and Stevens started dating his manager, Sue Davies. In 2010, he had a heart attack and credits Davies with saving his life. Stevens now lives in Marlow, Buckinghamshire and is a big fan of the Welsh football team, Cardiff City.
Career
Michael Barratt, better known as Shakin Stevens, worked as an upholsterer and milkman, but also performed in clubs and pubs at weekends. He joined the Backbeats, a band originally formed in 1958, and was spotted by Paul “Legs” Barrett, who repackaged the band as a 1950s-influenced rock ‘n’ roll outfit under a new name.
They became known as Shakin Stevens and the Sunsets. The band found success hard to come by in the UK but had several hit singles in other countries. In 1977, Shaky was spotted by Jack Good during a London Sunsets gig, who personally invited him to audition for his planned new West End musical Elvis.
Shaky landed one of the lead roles, playing Elvis in his prime, charting his army and film star years, with young actor Tim Whitnall covering the earlier formative years and veteran 1960s singer P.J. Proby taking over the part for Elvis’s ‘Las Vegas’ years. After the Elvis! show’s successful two-year run, Stevens was advised by Freya Miller to sever his association with the Sunsets and to develop a more lucrative solo career.
Under Miller’s hand, in 1981, Stevens scored his first UK chart-topping number 1 with NRBQ’s arrangement of “This Ole House” and would follow up with 10 more songs reaching the top five, including three number 1 hits with “Green Door”, “Oh Julie” and “Merry Christmas Everyone”, while “You Drive Me Crazy” and “A Love Worth Waiting For” reached number 2 in 1981 and 1984 respectively.
Despite his chart domination over the previous few years, he was not invited to perform at Live Aid on 13 July 1985. The hits continued but chart placings declined throughout the later 1980s and early 1990s. Shaky also reunited with former producer Dave Edmunds to record an album Lipstick, Powder and Paint, and the Christmas smash “Merry Christmas Everyone”, which was a number 1 hit in 1985.
Net Worth 2023
Shakin Stevens, whose real name is Michael Barratt, is a Welsh singer and songwriter. He was very popular in the 1980s and sold many singles in the UK. ((en.wikipedia.org)) As of 2023, he is estimated to have a net worth of $15 million. (ghbase.com))
Personal Life
Shakin Stevens is a Welsh singer and songwriter who was born on March 4, 1948, in Cardiff, South Wales. He was the youngest of thirteen children born to Jack and May Barratt. He is Welsh by nationality and ethnicity and is currently 75 years old as of March 2023. ((theguardian.com)) Pisces is his zodiac sign based on his birth date.
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