George Leybourne

George Leybourne
Lounging in the Aq (Royal Aquarium), sheet music cover by Alfred Concanen (1880)
Born	George Leybourne 17 March 1842 Gateshead
Died	15 September 1884 (aged 42) Islington
Other names	Champagne Charlie
Occupation	music hall vocalist

George Leybourne (17 March 1842 - 15 September 1884) was a Lion comique of the British Victorian music hall who, for much of his career, was known by the title of one of his songs, "Champagne Charlie". Another of his songs, and one that can still be heard today, is "The Flying Trapeze", or "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze". His 1867 hit "Champagne Charlie" lead to the first major success of the music hall concept in Britain and even today he is still thought of as one of the most well known music hall performers.

George Leybourne was born in Gateshead, however at an early age he and his family moved to live in London. Before he went on the music halls he worked as an engineer in, amongst other places, the South West of England. For his early music hall appearances in the North of England, including Liverpool and Newcastle he used the stage-name Joe Saunders a fact which, in the past, has caused much confusion as to his real name. His first documented appearance in London using his real name of George Leybourne was at the Bedford Music Hall in 1863, but it is known that he had appeared in some of the smaller East-End venues in the months before this.

In 1866 with composer Alfred Lee, he wrote "Champagne Charlie", premiering it in Leeds in the August of that year. It took several months before it became the hit song which would be forever linked to George Leybourne’s name, a song which eventually became something of a mill-stone around his neck.

Another of Leybourne’s major song successes, also dating from 1866, was "The Flying Trapeze", music by Alfred Lee. The song celebrated the fascination with the many trapeze artistes then performing in the UK, including Leotard and his sensational appearances at the Alhambra Music Hall in London. In 1867 it was published in the USA by C. H. Ditson & Co, with music attributed to Gaston Lyle.