David Essex, OBE (born David Albert Cook; 23 July 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and actor. Since the 1970s, he has attained 19 Top 40 singles in the UK (including two number ones) and 16 Top 40 albums. He has also had an extensive career as an actor. 　　He made his first record entitled "And the Tears Came Tumbling Down" for the Fontana label in 1965. He then toured with a band called 'David Essex and the Mood Indigo' for two years and released a further 7 singles in the 1960s. He also recorded two songs, 'A Rose' and 'Leon and John and Billy and Me' which remain unreleased, but exist as acetates. His first notable acting role aside from small appearances in the films Assault and All Coppers Are... was the lead in the stage musical, Godspell in 1971 at the age of 23. Two years later, he starred in the film That'll Be the Day (1973) and recorded his international hit single, the self-penned "Rock On", in the same year. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in March 1974. It was nominated for a Grammy and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.A second single, "Lamplight", also reached the Top 10 in the UK Singles Chart. 　　In the 1970s, Essex emerged as a performer of some note. Contrary to his own biography his first concert was at East Ham Granada in East London on Saturday 2 November 1974 and not the Odeon. His biggest hits during this decade included two UK Number One singles: "Gonna Make You a Star" (1974) and "Hold Me Close" (1975). He also appeared in Stardust, a 1974 sequel to That'll Be The Day. The title song was another Top 10 hit. In 1976, Essex covered the Beatles song, "Yesterday", for the musical documentary All This and World War II.