Freddie Garrity, the former frontman of Freddie And The Dreamers, has died in hospital at the age of 69. The singer, who had been receiving treatment for circulation problems, passed away on Friday at Ysbyty Gwynedd in Bangor. A resident of Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, Garrity was taken ill whilst on holiday in Wales with his wife Christine.
Freddie And The Dreamers were hugely successful in both the UK and the US back in the sixties with hits such as 'I'm Telling You Now' and 'You Were Made For Me'. Garrity, a former milkman born in Collyhurst in Manchester, started the band in 1959, breaking the group up ten years later to concentrate on solo work. The band reformed again in 1976 and toured for the following twenty five years.
Danny Betesh, his agent for more than forty years, said: "He was so full of life, and full of jokes. Even off stage he was a bundle of fun. He was part of a bunch of lads that really wanted to try and make it. Freddie was a very determined man. They were very, very popular, in the 60s - it was The Beatles, Gerry And The Pacemakers then Freddie And The Dreamers. They were household names."
Garitty was married three times and is survived by four children.