![\"Portrait](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_310994858-73af.jpg\")
\n\t\tCraig Douglas reached the top 40 with his covers of American songs (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
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\n\t\tCraig Douglas reached the top 40 with his covers of American songs (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n
Chart-topping British musician Craig Douglas has died at the age of 85.<\/p>\n
Best known as \u2018The Singing Milkman,\u2019 one of Douglas\u2019s biggest singles was Only Sixteen, which he recorded in 1959 at Abbey Road Studios.<\/p>\n
After reaching number one with the song, he went on to score several more hits in the 1950s and \u201960s \u2013 including Pretty Blue Eyes (1959), Time (1960), and Our Favourite Melodies (1960), all of which landed in the Top 10 UK charts.<\/p>\n
At his prime, Douglas managed to outsell peers Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley<\/a>.<\/p>\n A spokesperson for Douglas\u2019s family told the press that he died peacefully after a short illness, confirming: \u2018It is with great sadness that I have to inform you that Craig peacefully passed away this afternoon. He will be greatly missed by myself, his family, and his close friends. Rest in peace, Craig.\u2019<\/p>\n His family has asked for privacy at this time.<\/p>\n \t\t Douglas was born in Newport on the Isle of Wight on August 13, 1941.<\/p>\n Born Terence Perkins, he was given the name Craig Douglas by his manager \u2013 which he said was due to an abundance of \u2018Terrys\u2019 at the time, but not so many people named Craig.<\/p>\n He took the name The Singing Milkman for a job he\u2019d taken during the summer holidays as a teenager.<\/p>\n \u2018One day I came home, and my mother said there is a letter for you. It was the first letter I\u2019d ever received in my life. It was from the manager of the Medina Theatre asking me about the upcoming singing competition I\u2019d apparently entered,\u2019 he told The Beat Magazine <\/a>in 2021.<\/p>\n \u2018When I asked my mother what it was all about, she admitted that she\u2019d put my name down for the competition.\u2019<\/p>\n Winning \u00a310 \u2018or something,\u2019 in the competition, he first met manager Bunny Lewis, who signed the singer on in the belief that they had \u2018another Perry Como\u2019 on their hands.<\/p>\n \t\t Douglas was voted Best New Singer by NME in 1959, a year before the release of his self-titled first studio album.<\/p>\n During his career, he went on to release five subsequent studio albums, including Looking Back: Greatest Hits (2005) and The Golden Anniversary Album (2008). <\/p>\n In 1961, Douglas entered the Eurovision Song Contest<\/a> with A Girl Next Door, which finished in 7th place behind the winning country, Luxembourg.<\/p>\n A year later, he starred in the film It\u2019s Trad, Dad! directed by Richard Lester and featured other rock-and-roll singers of the time, including Chubby Checker<\/a> and Helen Shapiro.<\/p>\n Douglas also topped the bill at the Beatles\u2019 first major stage show in 1962.<\/p>\n In the decades that followed, Douglas performed at nightclubs and cruise ships while still touring venues across the UK.<\/p>\n In 2011, he released his final studio album, titled The Craig Douglas Project.<\/p>\n \t\t Craig never married and had no children, although he did speak fondly of his nieces in a 2020 interview with BBC Sounds<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u2018Well, I didn\u2019t get married to start with, which was a shame,\u2019 he told The Beat Magazine.<\/p>\n \u2018I would have liked to have had a couple of children, but if I had, I\u2019d miss them like mad while I was away.\u2019 <\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"English](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_311019348-a5d9.jpg\")
\n\t\tDouglas was known as The Singing Milkman (Picture: Getty Images)<\/p>\n![\"UNITED](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_311019343-683d.jpg\")
\n\t\tDouglas\u2019s biggest hit was Only Sixteen, written by Sam Cooke (Picture: Redferns)<\/p>\n![\"AMERSHAM,](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/SEI_311034711-53e5.jpg\")
\n\t\tDouglas performed from his wheelchair at a 2010 Rock \u2018n\u2019 Roll club concert in his name (Picture: WireImage)<\/p>\n
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