Neil Innes, a multifaceted comedian, musician, and songwriter, gained recognition for his deadpan delivery and uncanny ability to parody musical acts. Born to a warrant officer in the Royal Artillery, Innes began learning piano at the age of seven and guitar at fourteen.
In 1963, Innes joined the offbeat Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, which grew in popularity from performing in London pubs to becoming a professional outfit featured in the TV series Do Not Adjust Your Set and the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour. Innes wrote the song "Death Cab for Cutie" for the film.
After the band disbanded acrimoniously in 1970, Innes launched a solo career, which brought him into the orbit of the Monty Python crew. He wrote several songs for the Pythons and contributed whistling to Eric Idle's "Always Look On the Bright Side of Life". Innes also played multiple parts in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
Terry Gilliam nicknamed Innes "The Seventh Python", and he went on to provide music for Rutland Weekend Television, a BBC2 spoof series created by Idle. The show culminated in the 1978 mockumentary The Rutles: All You Need Is Cash, which brought into being The Rutles, a musical send-up of The Beatles.
The "Prefab Four" consisted of Innes as 'Ron Nasty', Ricky Fataar as 'Stig O'Hara', Eric Idle as 'Dirk McQuickly', and John Halsey as 'Barry Wom'. The band had the support of George Harrison, who declared that "he liked The Rutles better than he did the Beatles".
Innes continued to create cheeky musical pastiches, hosting the BBC series The Innes Book of Records and starring as a magician in the children's television program Puddle Lane. He also composed music for the animated series Jane and took part in the 2008 Rutles 30th anniversary tour.
In 2010, Innes formed The Idiot Bastard Band, which performed "silly pub songs", and went on a "semi-retirement tour" of Britain and the U.S. with a show entitled A People's Guide to World Domination. Neil Innes died on December 30, 2019, at the age of 75.
