Eric Victor Burdon (born 11 May 1941) is an English singer-songwriter and actor. He was previously the vocalist of rock band The Animals and funk band War. He is regarded as one of the British Invasion\'s most distinct singers with his deep, powerful blues-rock voice. He is also known for his aggressive stage performances.\n', '

He was ranked 57th in Rolling Stone\'s list The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.\n', '

Eric Burdon was born in 1941 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. His father, Matt, was originally from Tyneside. His mother, Rene, was originally from Ireland and moved to Scotland before settling in Newcastle in the 1930s. He also had a younger sister, Irene. Burdon states he often had a divided loyalty in his sense of place and identity. He was born to a lower working-class family; his father did electrical work in some of the clubs Burdon would later play. Because of his dad\'s line of work in electrical repair, the Burdon family had a TV by the time Eric was 10; in his autobiography, Don\'t Let Me Be Misunderstood, he recalls the electrifying moment of first seeing Louis Armstrong on TV only beginning his love for blues music. This led him to take up the trombone. However, realizing that he wasn\'t all that good a player, he took up singing and went to Newcastle Art College. In a song he wrote, "When I Was Young", he states he met his first love at 13, who was very experienced while he was not. He also sings he smoked his first cigarette at 10 years old and would skip school with his friends to drink brown ale.\n', '

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