Popular Baildon pub singer dies of cancer (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Popular Baildon pub singer dies of cancer

7:30am Monday 22nd March 2010 in

• Skip social links
• Print
• Email
• Comments(1)

When Big Al King of Clubs was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, he wanted to map out his own destiny.

He wanted to stay in control and in the words of Frank Sinatra “Do It My Way”.

So Al and his partner of ten years, Carol Pace, bought a motorhome and set off on the open road.

The fun-loving couple from Baildon amazed friends and doctors by putting off chemotherapy to travel while they still could – fulfilling a lifetime’s dream.

They notched up more than 4,500 miles, taking in hills and moorlands, coast and countryside.

Al – real name Al King – was a well-known baritone singer on the Bradford pub circuit. He finally died in Carol’s arms.

At 6ft 2ins tall and with a 44-inch chest, Al earned his nickname ‘Big Al King of Clubs’.

As well as being a karaoke king, he was a property landlord in the Keighley area and worked at Shipley Resource Centre, a job he loved.

He had previously beaten throat cancer but last July the disease returned to his stomach and oesophagus.

“He decided to put off the chemotherapy while he was still well enough to enjoy the open road,” said Carol, who met him ten years ago at the former Five Flags Hotel in Cullingworth. “I went out and bought the motorhome. It was his dream to just take off and we did it.

“He was at his happiest when he was behind that wheel, free as a bird.

“He was always a one-off, a loveable rogue, a jack of all trades and a rebel. But he was my soul-mate and my friend. We were inseparable. I’m lost without him.”

By the time the couple returned from the journey, the cancer had spread and was no longer operable.

Al did not like hospitals and wanted to stay at home, looked after by Carol.

“I used to read to him and we would chat through the nights about how much we loved each other,” she said.

Carol was Al’s main carer, despite suffering her own agonising spine disorder, and was helped towards the end of his life by Macmillan Nurses and Hospice At Home.

“They were all wonderful,” she said. “They helped Al get his last wish and that was to die in my arms at home.”