Rick Parfitt

Infobox musical artist
Name = Rick Parfitt

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Background = solo_singer
Born = birth date and age|1948|10|12|df=y
Woking, Surrey, England
Died =
Alias =
Genre = Hard rock, Rock and roll, Boogie rock
Instrument = Guitar
Occupation = Musician, Songwriter
Associated_acts = Status Quo
Label =
Years_active =
URL = [http://www.statusquo.co.uk www.statusquo.co.uk]
Notable_instruments = Fender Telecaster

Rick Parfitt (born 12 October 1948 in Woking, Surrey, England) is best known for being a singer and the rhythm guitarist in the English rock band Status Quo.

Rick attended Goldsworth School, Woking and first met band member Francis Rossi in 1965 in Butlin's Minehead whilst he was playing as Ricky Harrison in a musical trio called 'The Highlights'. Francis was playing with the Spectres (forerunner of Status Quo) at the time and Rick was sufficiently impressed to approach him with a view to working together. Nothing came of the meeting until 1967 when Rick joined Francis, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan and Roy Lynes to form the classic Quo lineup.

Rick has been a continuous member of the group, while others have come and gone, and has penned some of their greatest hits, sometimes in collaboration with the group's keyboard player Andy Bown, among them "Whatever You Want", "Again and Again", and "Rain". He recorded a solo album in 1985 while Status Quo had temporarily broken up, but it was never released. Among musicians on the record were bassist John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, formerly with the Climax Blues Band and Judie Tzuke, both of whom joined Status Quo when Rossi decided to reform the band in 1986. Through his experience, he has earned the nickname 'The WOMORR' (The Wild Old Man of Rock 'n' Roll). Parfitt is known for his trademark white Fender Telecaster – a 1965 model.

In 2006, Parfitt released his invention, the "guitar facelift" [http://www.guitarfacelift.com] which has the backing of guitar manufacturer Fender.

On 16 June 2007, the presenters of the popular British children's television show, Tiswas, reunited for a special one-off show. Parfitt performed with the rest of Status Quo on the show (all of whom were constantly being plagued by the show's trademark practical jokes during the said performance), and presenter Chris Tarrant alleged that during a broadcast of the show in the early 1980s, Parfitt was smoking cannabis on live children's television. Tarrant could smell this, and soaked the crowd that Parfitt was in with water. Since soaking guests was part of the show's humour, this wasn't seen as unusual.

On 15 September 2007, Parfitt and Rossi appeared on Celebrity "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?", earning £50,000 for charity.

Personal life

Rick has had an on-off relationship with childhood sweetheart Patty since meeting her when he was 20 and she was 18 in 1968. After the pair split up, Rick married Marietta Boeker and the pair had a son Richard (born 1978). Rick and Marietta then divorced, and he married Patty – the pair had a son Harry (born 1989). However, the pair divorced and Rick went on a period of various relationships with young blondes, before reuniting with Patty in 2000. The couple lived in a £1 million mansion in Teddington, South-West London, but after paying out more than £3 million in divorce settlements, Rick vowed in 2005 that he would never marry again. However, in August 2006, after meeting 46 year old fitness instructor Lyndsay Whitburn, the pair married in a £40 ceremony in Gibraltar [cite web |url=http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17670281%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=rick%2ddumps%2dlove%2d%2d%2dweds%2dmystery%2dgirl-name_page.html |title=Rick dumps love & weds mystery girl |publisher=The Sunday Mirror |date=2006-09-03 |accessdate=2008-07-13] [cite web |url=http://www.sundaymirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17716740%26method=full%26siteid=62484%26headline=rick%2dthe%2drat%2d%2d%2dby%2dthe%2dlover%2dquo%2dstar%2ddumped%2d-name_page.html |title=Exclusive: Rick the Rat.. By the lover Quo star dumped |publisher=The Sunday Mirror |date=2006-09-10 |accessdate=2008-07-13] Lyndsay give birth to twins, a boy named Tommy Oswald Parfitt and a girl named Lily Rose Parfitt, on 26th May 2008. [cite web |url=http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2008/05/rick-parfitt-an.html |title=Status Quo's Rick Parfitt and wife welcome twins Tommy and Lily |publisher=Celebrity Babies |date=2008-05-29 |accessdate=2008-07-13]

Parfitt had a quadruple heart bypass in 1997. In December 2005 it was announced that he was to undergo tests for suspected throat cancer, but just before Christmas the tests found the growths to be benign.

References

External links

* [http://www.statusquo.co.uk/ Status Quo Official site]
* [http://www.guitarfacelift.com Guitar Facelift]