Joseph Patrick Longthorne, born 31 May 1955 in Hull, England, was an English singer and impressionist whose career spanned stage, television and recording. He first appeared on television at fourteen in Yorkshire Television’s Junior Showtime and gained national attention in 1981 through London Weekend Television’s Search For a Star, which led to his own series, The Joe Longthorne Show, in 1988. Longthorne’s recording career began with the single "Passing Strangers" (1994) and the album I Wish You Love (1993). You And Me came in 2008, followed by a string of other albums. His work earned three platinum albums for Telstar, including The Joe Longthorne Songbook (1988) and Especially For You (1989). In 2007 he received the Variety Club Lifetime Achievement Award, and in 2012 he was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire for services to charity. Longthorne continued to perform while battling lymphoma and later leukaemia, and he died at home in Blackpool on 3 August 2019. Posthumously, the theatre on Blackpool’s North Pier was renamed The Joe Longthorne Theatre in 2020, and his performances have gained a new audience through online platforms.
