The funeral of Bill Kent, an early pioneer of Rock 'n' Roll in Britain, takes place this afternoon.

Bill Kent, real name David Kingsman, died in September of lung cancer, he was only 77.

Bill was only 15 when he first started playing professionally.

Maidstone born and bred, he had been playing in a skiffle band at the Howard De Walden youth club when his older brother, who lived in Canada, first posted some Elvis Presley records to him.
Transfixed by the new sounds, the young Bill instantly converted to Rock 'n' Roll.

After playing gigs across Kent, he was picked up by London impressario Hymie Zhal to replace Terry Dene on an nationwide tour and given a record contract with Decca records.

The year was 1957 and Bill was still only 16.

Appearances on Cool For Cats and In Town Tonight followed along with a tour of America and Canada.

He continued to play Rock 'n' Roll until 1965, when the new Merseybeat sound made it increasingly difficult to get bookings and he finally gave up full-time playing and returned to Maidstone.

The funeral service is at 1pm today at St Philip's Church in Waterloo Street, Maidstone.