The growth of a considerable and loyal following for American country music in Britain was due in no small way to the efforts of George Hamilton IV, the singer and international ambassador for the genre, who has died aged 77. From the late 1960s, Hamilton frequently toured the UK and Ireland, many times with local musicians. He was a regular performer at the Wembley international festival of country music.
His engaging manner and gentle vocal style made him the ideal presenter for several BBC television series in the 1970s, including George the Fourth A King in the Country and George Hamilton IV and Other Folk. He said of his affinity with the British: "I get a big kick out of taking the music that originally had its roots in places like England and Ireland back to the descendants of its originators. It feels like I'm putting something back into my art form."
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