Billy Connolly

After leaving school to become a welder on the Glasgow docks, Billy Connolly made the first of many a career transformation by pursuing a folk career. He formed the Humblebums with Gerry Rafferty in 1969, who released two acclaimed albums; Rafferty formed Stealers Wheel, while Connolly returned to the folk circuit as a solo performer. Connolly’s between-songs banter quickly became the focal point of his live shows. By the 1990s, his transformation to comedian was complete, although music would remain a key part of his repertoire (case in point, the U.K. #1 novelty hit "D.I.V.O.R.C.E."). In his new profession, he would become an internationally recognizable face, everpresent on club stages and silver screens.