Born in Glasgow on 29 April 1931, of Scots/Irish parents, Anthony James Donegan moved to London with his mother after his parents divorced. His father had been an amateur concert violinist but young Donegan's musical interests grew from the occasional BBC radio shows of the day featuring American Blues singers and New Orleans jazz bands. He bought a guitar at 14, taught himself the basics and set about forming a band. He put together the Tony Donegan Jazzband and found a niche among the few jazz clubs around London at that time. A highlight came when he was asked to appear at the Royal Festival Hall as opening act for one of his boyhood idols and the person from whom he had 'borrowed' his first name, Lonnie Johnson.

From Jazz UK