About Tony Christie
Anthony Fitzgerald, known professionally as Tony Christie, is an English musician and singer. He found prominence in the early 1970s with successful singles including "Las Vegas", "I Did What I Did for Maria" and "Avenues and Alleyways". In 2005, he achieved a UK number 1 album and single after his 1971 hit "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" was reissued in aid of Comic Relief. In 1966 he formed the group Tony Christie and the Trackers with Jimmy Page (Led Zeppelin) on guitar and released a record written by Christie which didn't do well. Tony's father Patrick Fitzgerald was an accountant at the Conisbrough mine and played the piano at home, where Tony first sang as a boy. Discovered and managed by Harvey Lisberg, Christie worked in an accounts office in Sheffield and sang in northern working men's clubs at night. In 1976 "Drive Safely, Darlin'" reached no. 35 in the UK. "(Is This the Way to) Amarillo" had sold more than one million copies by September 1972, and was awarded a gold disc.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.