- Bill Legend
Bill Legend (born William Fifield,
8 May 1944 inBarking ,Essex ) was the drummer forglam rock band T. Rex during their most successful period.One of three children, Legend worked as a commercial artist after leaving school while playing the drums for a variety of bands. He was drumming under his real name for a group called Legend when
Marc Bolan , the man behind the new-found success of T. Rex, spotted him and asked producerTony Visconti to approach him.Legend agreed to give it a try and immediately bought a number of the old T. Rex albums from their days as Tyrannosaurus Rex in order to familiarise himself with Bolan's previous work. At the time, T. Rex had enjoyed their first hit singles with "
Ride a White Swan " and "Hot Love". Bolan and hispercussionist Mickey Finn had already recruited a bassist inSteve Currie but still needed a drummer to complete therhythm section of their new electric direction. Finn had been forced to mime playing the drums on "Top Of The Pops " when "Hot Love" was at No.1.He got his
stage name from Bolan, who suggested the new name because of the name of the band he was playing in.Legend played drums for T. Rex until 1973, when the band began to disintegrate after the hits dried up. They had enjoyed four UK No.1 singles and four UK No.2 singles in a three year period. Legend reverted to session drumming afterwards.
Bolan (in 1977) and Currie (1981) both died in car crashes, Steve Peregrin Took choked to death in 1980, and Finn succumbed to illness in 2003. Legend is therefore the only member of the halcyon-era T. Rex who is still alive.
As of 2008, Legend is the only surviving member of the 1970-1973 T. Rex lineup. He has seven children and lives in
Chelmsford , Essex.Bill Legend has a brother David,who currently works as a woodwork teacher in
Tauranga Boys' College , New Zealand.Bill also plays drums regularly at Elim Christian Centre, Chelmsford, Essex.
Bill Legend's homepage, where he tells about his years with T. Rex: [ [http://www.presentation-partners.co.uk/legend/Story/lifestory.html Bill Legend's homepage, where he tells about his years with T. Rex] ]
He has a sister,Eileen,who lives in Pitsea Essex.His father is still living and re-married two years ago at the grand age of 86.
References
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
