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Chesney Hawkes looks back: ‘It’s only now I can appreciate that The One and Only is a great record’

The singer on his wild musical upbringing, being dismissed as a one-hit wonder, and his surprise return to the limelight

Archive image: Mark Richards/ Daily Mail/ ShutterstockBorn in Berkshire in 1971, Chesney Hawkes started his career at the age of 19, appearing in Buddy’s Song, a film that featured his single The One and Only. If I needed to leave the house I would get smuggled out in the boot of my mum’s car to avoid the paparazzi, or I’d sneak into the garden of the people who lived behind me. I think it was partly because I grew up around so many people in the industry: my dad is Len Hawkes from the Tremeloes, and my mum is Carol Dilworth, an actor who was in TV shows like Golden Shot and Sale of the Century.

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