He was known as the “singing milkman” and became one of the most beloved pop stars of the 1960s.
But now, an unforgettable voice from a golden era of music has fallen silent.
Legendary British singer Craig Douglas has died at the age of 85.
For anyone who grew up with the music of the 1950s and 60s, some songs are more than just songs, they are memories. A melody can take you straight back to a certain time, a place, or a moment you thought you had forgotten.
Now, one of the voices behind those treasured memories has fallen silent.
Craig Douglas, best known for his beloved hit “Only Sixteen,” has died peacefully at his home on the Isle of Wight at the age of 85 following a short illness, his family confirmed.
For a generation of music lovers, Douglas was a familiar face and voice during the golden years of pop. He first made a name for himself as the “Singing Milkman”, a nickname that stuck after he worked as a milkman before turning his passion for music into a career.
Born Terence Perkins in Newport on the Isle of Wight, he was a twin and initially lived a very different life from the one that would soon unfold. As a 15-year-old milkman and farm worker, he was encouraged by his mother, Mildred, to enter a local talent contest. He won the coveted $5 prize and caught the attention of a cinema manager who helped set him on the path to an international singing career.
His manager, Bunny Lewis, eventually gave him the stage name Craig Douglas after spotting the name outside a house in Scotland. Lewis felt there were already too many Terrys around — but not many Craigs.
The new name would soon become familiar to millions.
Douglas shot to fame in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and in 1959 he was voted Best New Singer by NME. That same year, he recorded “Only Sixteen,” a song that would become the defining hit of his career.
Recorded at the legendary Abbey Road Studios, Douglas’s version climbed all the way to No. 1 on the UK charts, even outselling Sam Cooke’s original version in Britain.
For those who remember hearing it on the radio decades ago, it remains a song that instantly brings back the feeling of a very different era, when young people gathered around the radio, records were treasured possessions, and a new voice could suddenly become the soundtrack to countless lives.
Douglas went on to score nine UK Top 40 singles, including four consecutive No. 9 hits. He also tried to represent Britain at the Eurovision Song Contest in 1961 with “The Girl Next Door,” although he was not selected.
His final hit, “Town Crier,” arrived in 1963 and reached No. 36.
But Craig Douglas never truly walked away from music
Dated two Miss Worlds
Even after his biggest chart successes had faded into history, he continued performing, appearing at nightclubs, on cruise ships and at venues around Britain. Remarkably, he continued touring until 2010, keeping the songs and memories of an earlier generation alive.
He also had a special place in British music history, having topped the bill for the Beatles at one of their early major shows and appearing in the 1962 film It’s Trad, Dad!
Later in life, Douglas stepped away from the spotlight and settled back on the Isle of Wight. Despite dating two Miss Worlds and selling over 10 million records worldwide, he never married and had no children, something he described as one of his regrets in a 2024 interview.
“I would have liked to have had a couple of children, but if I did, I’d miss them like mad while I was away, so I didn’t conceive it all. Coming from a family of nine children, I would have always wanted some of my own,” he said, explaining that he might have missed them terribly while traveling for work.
Now, the man once known as the Singing Milkman is gone.
But for those who grew up with his music — and for anyone who remembers the magic of those early pop years — Craig Douglas will live on every time “Only Sixteen” begins to play.
Some voices simply become part of the soundtrack of our lives. Craig Douglas was one of them.
