Ronnie Ronalde
| Ronnie Ronalde | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Ronald Charles Waldron |
| Also known as | "The voice of variety" "The world's greatest whistler" |
| Born |
29 June 1923 Islington, London, England |
| Died | 13 January 2015 (aged 91) London, England |
| Genres | Music hall, variety |
| Occupation(s) | Siffleur, singer, yodeller |
| Years active | 1938–2015 |
| Labels |
Columbia Decca Records EMI Major Minor Pye |
| Associated acts | Silver Songsters |
| Website | Official website |
Ronald Charles Waldron (29 June 1923 – 13 January 2015), known professionally as Ronnie Ronalde, was a British music hall singer and siffleur. Ronalde was famous for his voice, whistling, yodelling, imitations of bird song and stage personality. His crystal clear yodelling gained him acceptance with connoisseurs of Alpine and Western music around the world.
Ronalde grew up in a poor but supportive Islington home, and found a talent for singing, whistling and bird impressions from early childhood. In these formative years, he entertained informally for pocket money, or with church and school choirs, developing his talents for stage performance.
During a time in which he was training for accountancy, Ronalde was invited to become one of Arturo Steffani's Silver Songsters, aged 15. This 21-piece boys' choir was known for its complex vocal and visual arrangements of popular songs, with each boy usually going into other trades when older. Steffani was so taken with Ronalde's voice and whistling (he referred to him as "the Pink of Perfection"), that he disbanded the Silver Songsters (in 1947) and became his personal manager, mentor and chaperone. They later toured all over the world together.
After wartime service, Steffani encouraged Ronalde to study singing in London and yodelling in Switzerland, and for nearly a decade he began working his way up the bill, not only as a solo Variety performer, but also under his new name: Ronnie Ronalde.
After early struggles, Ronalde's first successful UK tour (in the late 1940s) met him with a wave of interest. Ronalde’s first recordings were with Decca Records (these were only to be whistling performances), but his first major label contract came from EMI. Ronalde would also join Pye, Major Minor and Columbia records, becoming a million-selling artiste.
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