Richard John Parfitt, OBE  was an English musician, best known for being a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitarist in the rock band Status Quo.

Parfitt was born in Woking, Surrey on 12 October 1948. His father was an insurance salesman "who was a drinker and a gambler" and his mother worked in cake shops. He described his upbringing as "wonderful", and has described his childhood self as a "typical naughty boy". Parfitt first learned to play the guitar at the age of 11.

Career

While playing guitar and singing in "The Feathers" pub on Goodge Street in London, Parfitt's father was approached by an agent from Sunshine Holiday Camp on Hayling Island, who gave Parfitt a performing job. At Sunshine, Parfitt joined Jean and Gloria Harrison - performing at the time as the double act "The Harrison Twins" - to form a cabaret trio called "The Highlights". Following the season, the Harrison Twins' manager Joe Cohen, one of the Keystone Cops, arranged for The Highlights to perform at Butlins in Minehead.

It was at Butlins that Parfitt met future Status Quo partner Francis Rossi, who was playing with Alan Lancaster and John Coghlan in a band called "The Spectres" (soon to be renamed "Traffic Jam") - a forerunner to "Quo". After becoming friends with the band, their manager Pat Barlow invited Parfitt to join the group as they needed another singer.

Status Quo

In 1967, Traffic Jam changed their name to "The Status Quo" (they'd eventually drop the definite article), beginning Parfitt's almost 50-year career in the band. Early successes came with the Rossi-penned hit "Pictures of Matchstick Men", as well as the hit 1972 album Piledriver, which would elevate the band to fame. Along with Rossi, Parfitt was the only remaining original member of the group, having remained in the band for its entire duration. He has penned some of their greatest hits, sometimes in collaboration with the group's keyboard player Andy Bown, among them "Whatever You Want", "Again and Again", and "Rain". Quo were highly successful in Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand throughout the 80s and 90, and were the opening act for 1985's Live Aid, and they continue to be successful in the present day. To date, Quo have sold over 128 million albums worldwide.

In 2013 and 14, Parfitt and Rossi reunited temporarily with original Quo bandmates Lancaster and Coghlan for a series of reunion concerts on what would be called the "Frantic Four" tour.

Other projects

In 1984, the year before Quo would open Live Aid, Parfitt and Rossi appeared on the Band Aid charity single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?"

Parfitt recorded a solo album in 1985, but it was never released. Among musicians on the record were bassist John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, formerly with the Climax Blues Band and Judie Tzuke.

In 2006 Parfitt released his invention, the "guitar facelift" which has the backing of guitar manufacturer Fender.

In December 2009 Parfitt teamed up with Rolf Harris for the single "Christmas in the Sun", following on from the 2008 Status Quo hit "It's Christmas Time", which Parfitt wrote with current songwriting partner Wayne Morris.

In April 2015 Parfitt, along with his wife Lyndsay and Julian Hall, set up "Status Homes" a real estate company based in Marbella, Spain.

Musical equipment

One of Parfitt's guitars was a white 1965 Fender Telecaster. In addition he also played a Gibson SG Junior, a 1981 Zemaitis tuned to a B, a Schecter telecaster, a Fender Esquire, a custom made Fender Telecaster Thinline, a Gibson Melody Maker and a Chet Atkins acoustic guitar. He also used status slipstream guitars in different configurations. For amplification, Parfitt used Marshall JCM800kk (Kerry King signature) or JCM900 amplifiers with 4x12 cabinets combined with VOX AC30 amplifiers and a Roland GP8 signal processor and a boss ce-7 as his clean boost pedal.

Personal life

Parfitt and fellow band member Francis Rossi in 2013

Parfitt was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the New Year Honours 2010 along with his bandmate Francis Rossi.

Health and death

Following a heart attack, Parfitt had a quadruple heart bypass in 1997, when he was told by doctors that he could die "at any time" unless he changed his lifestyle of drugs, smoking and heavy drinking.

He had a throat cancer scare in December 2005.

 He suffered a heart attack in December 2011 and underwent surgery on the following day.

 On 1 August 2014, while on a European tour with Status Quo, Parfitt was hospitalised in Pula, Croatia, forcing the cancellation of six shows on the tour. He had suffered a heart attack while on his tour bus after performing a concert in Austria, and had a stent inserted. He later told the Daily Mail he was pleased to have suffered another heart attack as it had forced him to stop smoking and drinking after 50 years. He said he had been drinking a bottle of wine and smoking 30 cigarettes a day.

On 14 June 2016, after playing with the band in Antalya, Turkey, he suffered another heart attack and was hospitalized. His management described his condition as serious. Parfitt was clinically dead for several minutes, resulting in mild cognitive impairments. The band announced that their ongoing tour would continue with Freddie Edwards, son of bassist John "Rhino" Edwards, as a temporary replacement.

 On 22 June it was announced that Parfitt had been flown home to the UK and was described as "comfortable" in hospital in London, where he was undergoing more tests. He had a defibrillator fitted into his chest.

 In September it was announced that he would not be well enough to tour in the autumn, and he did not intend to tour with the band in future.

On 24 December 2016, he died in hospital in Spain

Parfitt is survived by his wife Lyndsay, their twins Tommy and Lily and his adult children Rick Jnr and Harry, a statement from the family said.