Bill Legend

Bill Legend (born William Arthur Fifield, 8 May 1944, Barking, Essex, England) is an English musician and former drummer for glam rock band T. Rex during their most successful period. One of three children, Legend worked as a commercial artist after leaving school, while playing the drums in a variety of bands. He was drumming under his real name for a group called "Legend", fronted by Mickey Jupp, when Marc Bolan, the man behind the new-found success of T. Rex, spotted him and asked producer Tony Visconti to approach him. Legend agreed to join T. Rex, immediately buying a number of the band's albums from their days as Tyrannosaurus Rex to familiarise himself with Bolan's previous work. At the time, T.Rex had enjoyed their first hit single with "Ride a White Swan". Bolan and his percussionist Mickey Finn had already recruited a bassist in Steve Currie, but still needed a drummer to complete the rhythm section of their new electric line-up. At Legend's first session he played drums on "Hot Love" and the B-side "Woodland Rock". However T. Rex stayed as a three-piece band for a short period, forcing Finn to mime playing the drums on Top of the Pops when "Hot Love" was at No. 1.