Iconic English clarinetist, Acker Bilk, whose career heights peaked in the 60s, passed away at the age of 85.

He died at Bath's Royal United Hospital, his manager Pamela Sutton announced.

Bilk was famous for his performances highlighted by his brash waistcoat and bowler hat. He was actually the first ever British act to make it in the US charts in the 1960s, with "Stranger on the Shore," his most memorable hit, on the charts for a year after it was released in 1961. That eventually earned him four gold discs.

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Bilk was born Bernard Stanley. He eventually changed his name to Acker, which is the Somerset street term for mate, when he learned to play the clarinet while serving the Army.

Bilk recalled that it was while a stint in Egypt before the Suez Crisis that he started playing the clarinet.

"In the army you could borrow musical instruments on loan, and as I'd played recorder a bit as a kid, I took out a clarinet," he said in an interview to mark his 80th birthday.

"Before long, we got a little band going - the Original Egyptian Stompers."

When he returned home, he started to work as a professional clarinetist, playing in the jazz clubs in Bristol in the 1950s. His breakthrough eventually came when a PR playing in a beer bar in Dusseldorf, Germany, got impressed by his talent. And the rest they say was history.

During his elderly years, Bilk was plagued by poor health.

In October 1999, he admitted that his voice had already turned hoarse, which was later revealed to be throat cancer. He was placed in radiotherapy treatment for six weeks, thus, preventing him from performing with his band.

He was also operated on, eight times due to bladder cancer and suffered a series of small stroke early in his eighties.

His faltering health did not however prevent him from performing, which he did until 2013.

Mrs. Sutton, who was Bilk's personal manager for 45 years, said he had "been ill for some time. He was my great friend and his music was legendary."

His personal manager, Mrs. Sutton, praised Bilk for his "great sense of humor" and for his zest for living.

He left his wife Jean and two children: Jenny and Pete. 

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