Laurie London briefly achieved fame as a boy singer in 1957 when he hit the charts with a version of an old spiritual gospel song, He's Got the Whole World in His Hands. He was born in Bethnal Green, East London, on January 19, 1944, and when only 13 years old, he recorded He's Got the Whole World in His Hands with the Geoff Love Orchestra, and although the song performed well in his native Britain, reaching number 12 in November 1957, in the U.S. it did even better, peaking at number one for four weeks in April 1958 on the DJs' Most Played chart, thereby becoming the first record by a British-born artist to top the charts in the rock & roll era. He never achieved another hit either in the U.S. or the U.K. Laurie London sang in both English and German and had several albums released in Europe, but he effectively retired from the recording business while still in his teens. ~ Sharon Mawer, Rovi