Terry Dene

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Terry Dene, born Terence Williams on 20 December 1938 in Elephant & Castle, London, is a British rock and roll singer who rose to fame in the late 1950s. He was discovered at the 2i’s Coffee Bar in Soho by Paul Lincoln, with support from producer Jack Good and Dick Rowe who helped him sign with Decca. Dene became known as the British Elvis for his powerful voice and early rock and roll style. His first hit, A White Sport Coat, sold hundreds of thousands of copies, and his version of Start Movin’ also made the UK Top Twenty. He also appeared on the BBC’s Six-Five Special and acted in the film The Golden Disc (1958).

In 1958 Dene faced serious public troubles after arrests for drunkenness and property damage, which the press used to label him a “bad apple.” That same year he was conscripted into the Army, and his arrival at the Winchester Barracks was heavily publicized. The situation damaged his career, and after two months he was discharged on medical grounds as his mental health deteriorated. He later joined Larry Parnes’ show business stable and toured Britain, but by the mid-1960s he stepped away from pop.

From 1964 onward Dene devoted himself to gospel music and evangelism, recording three gospel albums and traveling as a preacher in churches and prisons, including five years in Sweden. He returned to secular music later, releasing The Real Terry Dene (1997) and a Decca compilation in 2004. In 2007 he started his own label with Lucia Liberati, later renamed LLibera.com, and released The Best of Terry Dene (2012). He also launched an Official Terry Dene YouTube channel in 2018. In his personal life, Dene married Edna Savage in 1958 and later had three more marriages, including to Evelyn Patrick (1967–1970); he eventually settled with Italian countess Lucia Liberati in 2000.