Career
Born in Woking, Surrey, Parfitt attended Goldsworth School, Woking and first met band member Francis Rossi in 1965 in Butlin's Minehead whilst he was playing as Ricky Harrison in a musical trio called 'The Highlights'. Rossi was playing with the Spectres (forerunner of Status Quo) at the time and Parfitt was sufficiently impressed to approach him with a view to working together. Nothing came of the meeting until 1967 when Parfitt joined Rossi, Alan Lancaster, John Coghlan and Roy Lynes to form the classic Quo lineup.
Parfitt has been a continuous member of the group, and has penned some of their greatest hits, sometimes in collaboration with the group's keyboard player Andy Bown, among them "Whatever You Want", "Again and Again", and "Rain". He recorded a solo album in 1985, but it was never released. Among musicians on the record were bassist John Edwards and drummer Jeff Rich, formerly with the Climax Blues Band and Judie Tzuke. He has earned the nickname 'The WOMORR' (The Wild Old Man of Rock 'n' Roll). Parfitt is known for his trademark white Fender Telecaster – a 1965 model.
In 2006, Parfitt released his invention, the "guitar facelift" which has the backing of guitar manufacturer Fender.
On 16 June 2007, the presenters of the British children's television show, Tiswas, reunited for a special one-off show. Parfitt performed with the rest of Status Quo on the show (all of whom were constantly plagued by the show's trademark practical jokes during their performance), and presenter Chris Tarrant alleged that during a broadcast of the show in the early 1980s, Parfitt was smoking cannabis on live children's television.
On 15 September 2007, Parfitt and Rossi appeared on Celebrity Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, earning £50,000 for charity.
In December 2009, Parfitt teamed up with Rolf Harris for the single "Christmas in the Sun". This follows on from the 2008 Status Quo hit "It's Christmas Time", which Parfitt wrote with current songwriting partner Wayne Morris.
Read more about this topic: Rick Parfitt
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