Clifford T. Ward

Born in Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, Ward was the fifth child of Kathleen and Frank Ward, a carpet factory worker whose grandparents had been Irish music-hall artistes. Ward had one older sister and three older brothers, and as children, he and his siblings picked fruit on a local farm to supplement the family income. He was educated at Stourport secondary modern school and King Charles I Grammar School in Kidderminster. At school he spent some time as a choir boy. He met his future wife, Pat, at school when they were teenagers. They later married after Pat became pregnant with the first of their four children. They initially lived in Castle Road, then Stourbridge Road, in Kidderminster, for several years and both were active in raising funds for cerebral palsy, a condition their daughter Debbie had from birth. He was also an English teacher for about a year and a half at North Bromsgrove High School. ==Early career==

In 1962, shortly after leaving school and supporting himself with a series of clerical jobs, Ward formed a beat band Cliff Ward and the Cruisers, which won the 1963 Midland Band of the Year contest in Birmingham. ==Solo career==

In 1967, following the demise of The Secrets, Ward decided he needed to get "a real job". He enrolled at Worcester Teacher Training College and subsequently taught at North Bromsgrove High School teaching English and Drama. According to Allmusic, the song "Wherewithal" from the Home Thoughts album is "infectious and lyrically excellent" and it was surprising that it failed to chart. Subsequent singles including "No More Rock 'n' Roll", "Jigsaw Girl", "Ocean of Love" and "I Got Lost Tonight" (written by the US singer-songwriter Tim Moore, one of the very rare occasions when he recorded outside material) were given airtime by BBC Radio presenters, but Ward never made it into the UK singles chart again. In the late 1970s, Justin de Villeneuve became his manager. It was said that he would have had more commercial success were it not for his dislike of touring, public appearances, interviews and photo shoots. "The Best is Yet to Come", from the album Both of Us, enjoyed success when covered by Justin Hayward, and his songs have been recorded by Cliff Richard, Jack Jones, Art Garfunkel, Judy Collins and more recently by Brian Kennedy and Rumer. == Illness ==

In 1987, Ward was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). At around the same time, a stage musical, Shattered World, was produced as a tribute to him, based on his life and his battle against MS. Half of the songs were Ward's own, and half were numbers written by others about him. ==Death==

In November 2001, Ward contracted pneumonia and died in Tenbury Community Hospital a few weeks later on 18 December 2001. ==Discography==

Albums Singles (partial list) TV appearances ==Bibliography==

• Oh and By the Way - The Clifford T. Ward Story - Shotwize Motion Picture co. (2020) ==References==