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Vince Hill, a frequent UK radio and television star best known for his 1967 hit, “Edelweiss,” has died at age 89. “He passed peacefully at home in Henley this afternoon,” said an announcement on his website, which didn’t give a cause.

Born in Holbrooks, Coventry, Hill worked with big bands and vocal groups before his first solo success in 1962. During a career spanning six decades, he released 25 studio albums, recorded movie theme songs, and performed internationally at venues including the Sydney Opera House.

Piccadilly Records released his debut single, “The Rivers Run Dry,” which led to TV and radio appearances. He signed to Emi in 1965, scoring his biggest hit in 1967 with a cover of the 1959 Rodgers and Hammerstein musical song “Edelweiss” from The Sound of Music.

The track reached number two and stayed on the UK charts for 17 weeks.

An update posted on his official website on Saturday said: “We’re...

Variety show star of the 1960s whose hits included Dance On and Secret Love

During the mid-1960s, the singer Kathy Kirby, who has died aged 72 after a short illness, was almost ever-present on television variety shows. Her powerful vocal style was heard on the million-selling hits Dance On and Secret Love, and her blonde hair and hourglass figure drew comparisons to Marilyn Monroe.

She was born Kathleen O'Rourke in Ilford, Essex, the eldest of three children of Irish parents. Her mother, Eileen, brought up the family alone after their father left home when the children were very young. Kirby showed a taste for show business from an early age, winning a toddlers' talent contest at three years old. After leaving a local convent school with three O-levels, and dyeing her natural red hair blonde, she regularly attended the Ilford Palais de Danse. There, dressed in a tight black dress and black evening gloves,...