(Gibson) On this day in 2003, Adam Faith, British teen idol and actor, died at the age of 62, the result of a heart attack. Gibson takes a look back: Faith had been staying at a hotel in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, where he was starring in the Regent Theatre's Love and Marriage. He was taken ill at the hotel after his Friday evening performance and suffered a heart attack. He was admitted to the hospital but failed to recover.Adam Faith was just a stage name. He was born Terry Nelhams and grew up in Shepherd's Bush, West London, and worked in various lowly film and TV jobs when he left school. Inspired by the skiffle boom, he stared his on combo, The Worried Men, and booked the band as many gigs as he could find. Playing in Soho one night, Nelhams was seen by music TV legend Jack Good – producer of the hit BBC pop music show 6-5 Special. Good helped him come up with a new name and had Faith on TV twice before EMI came calling and offered him a record deal. Two failed singles later, however, it was back to the day job.
Musician John Barry (who would go on to become a composer for the James Bond films) asked him to appear on a BBC pop music show, Drumbeat, and on the back of that he released another low-charting single. Finally, Barry brought Nelhams the song that would become his breakthrough and first #1 single "What Do You Want?"
Hits continued with tracks like "Poor Me," "Someone Else's Baby" and "Don't That Beat All," quickly establishing him as one of Britain's top three homegrown pop stars alongside Cliff Richard and Billy Fury. more on this story
