Alan Blaikley, who wrote songs for Rock n' Roll legend Elvis Presley, has died at the age of 82.
Songwriter and composer Alan passed away overnight on Monday 4 July after being in a care home with 'limited mobility'. His cause of death is unknown.
Alan's lifelong friend and fellow co-writer Ken Howard announced the news to the Mirror with a tribute.
He said: "I've known Alan since we were seven-years-old at school together, at University College School in Hampstead.
"We were instantly great friends and remained so until now. The songwriting partnership was always a huge pleasure for us both and enabled us to reach great many people with the songs.
"I will miss him particularly, not only as a songwriting colleague, but as a great friend."
Alan was best known for writing a series of international hits in the 1960s and 1970s in collaboration with his childhood friend Ken.
The pair wrote the UK number ones including Have I the Right, performed by the Honeycombs and The Legend of Xanadu, performed by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich.
Alan and Ken were also the first British composers to write for Elvis Presley and were behind the hit tune I've Lost You, which Elvis later performed in the film That's The Way It Is.
They also wrote another song for the King of Rock n' Roll in collaboration with Geoff Stephens called Heart of Rome, which was featured on the album Love Letters from Elvis.
Reminiscing on their time writing for Elvis together, Ken told the Mirror : "We started writing songs at school together.
"Elvis Presley was always our great hero in our school days – the beginning of Rock n' Roll and all that.
"To have him record two songs of ours was a dream come true."
Alan and Ken went on to expand their writing ventures and wrote the scores for two West End musicals; Mardi Gras, which ran for 210 performances at the Prince of Wales Theatre, and The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, which occupied the Wyndham Theatre for nearly a year and a half.
During Alan's successful career, he also contributed to award-winning scores for TV and film with his lifelong pal Ken for shows including Agatha Christie's Miss Marple, The Flame Trees of Thika and By The Sword Divided.
Alan also had a keen interest in psychology and he trained as a psychotherapist in the 1970s at the Westminster Pastoral Foundation.
He ran a successful private practice for many years alongside his musical work.
