Legendary jazz clarinetist Acker Bilk died

English clarinet player Acker Bilk died on 2 November 2014 in Bath, southwestern England following a brief illness. He was 85.

His last concert was held in August 2013.

Acker Bilk

• Born in Pensford in Somerset in 1929, Bilk tried a number of different careers before becoming a learned clarinet player.
• Born as Bernard Stanley Bilk, he changed his name to Acker after learning to play the clarinet in the Army.
• He learned the clarinet as a bored army recruit stationed in Egypt after World War II.
• He formed his first band in Bristol after his demobilisation.
• Bilk was named as a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2001 for services to music.
• His most famous number Stranger on the Shore was the UK's biggest selling single of 1962 and made him an international star.