Den Hegarty

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Den Hegarty (born Denis Hegarty, 13 September 1954, Dublin, Ireland) is a rock and roll, doo-wop and a cappella singer.

At an early age Hegarty moved to Brighton, England. Hegarty formed the 1950s styled band, Darts in August 1976, along with vocalists Rita Ray, Griff Fender and sax player Horatio Hornblower, all from the band Rocky Sharpe & the Razors. His role in Darts was as the bass singer, songwriter, arranger and music director. He left Darts in 1978 after his father became terminally ill.^{[citation needed]}

Following his father's death later that year, Hegarty turned to television to host the Tyne Tees Television show Alright Now, but he was not subsequently asked to present the second series after management at the company said that he was "too anarchic for the American market".^{[citation needed]}

After working for BBC Radio 1 and featuring in three series of Jack Good's final television show, Let's Rock, he moved on to host the final series of Tiswas along with DJ Gordon Astley, and comedian/impressionist Fogwell Flax, along with Sally James. After its demise Hegarty became a cable show quizmaster, and then took another direction providing voices for animated characters in television advertisements.

Hegarty lives with his wife and one son in Devon, where he has become a local celebrity. He now works as a lecturer in psychology at Exeter College and with the Open University, but he is still singing. He has fronted an acapella band called Slackapella, plus a 15-piece outfit called Soul Traders, and he still sings with the doo-woppers, The Metrotones. From time to time he can also be found onstage with Darts at one of their very rare reunions.