It was on this day in 1966 that iconic British rocker Johnny Kidd was tragically killed at the age of 30 in a car accident on the A58 in Lancashire.
The charismatic, London-born singer - real name Frederick Heath - had been travelling from a gig in Bolton when the car he was a passenger in was involved in a head-on collision with another vehicle three miles south of Bury. Kidd was killed instantly, as was a passenger in the other car, 17-year-old schoolgirl Helen Read.
Kidd - together with his backing group ‘the Pirates’ - had achieved worldwide fame six years earlier with their enduring number one smash hit ‘Shakin All Over’ and, though his fame had slipped since then, he was still seen as an influential figure in the British music scene.
Kidd’s bass guitarist Nick Simper survived the death crash with relatively minor injuries and went on to become a founder-member of the heavy metal pioneering, super-group Deep Purple.