I have just received this very sad news from Pat at Leo's Den. I'm sure that she will be passing this tragic message on to many members of Shadow Music. However - there may be people who are not on whichever contact list she is using and so I will take the liberty of 'forwarding' her message here.
" It is with regret we have to report the passing of William Hooper after a long illness.
Many Cliff fans will know William and Moya and will have met them at many of the Cliff concerts around the country, very distinguishable in his white jacket, black shirt, and white tie. His Cliff web site kept fans updated with news and was invaluable as far as chart information was concerned. The site will remain up and running but will not be updated. If you have William’s email address on your computer it has been requested by his family that is it deleted as it will no longer be operating and any messages will not be answered.
Rest in peace William.
Pat and John
LEO'S DEN MUSIC "
I was never introduced to William formally but I saw him at may, many Cliff / Shads events - the last being at Cardiff in October of last year. I think that he was a lovely man and his Cliff Richard website is absolutely fabulous. I'm sure that there will be many more people on this forum who knew William much better than I did and who can pay proper tribute to him. I had no idea that he was seriously ill. Whilst not wishing to be morbid and knowing that no - one is immortal - it seems to me that we have lost too many good people prematurely of late. As Pat said - William's fantastic website will remain - but, of course, will not now be updated. As an amazing reference resource - it is a fitting memory.
RIP William
Rob