Music icon died totally penniless aged just 42 after | UK News

A music icon who wrote a music nearly anyone will know the phrases to died penniless after subsisting on “free champagne” for years. George Leybourne was an icon of the music halls in the nineteenth century, most well-known for his two songs Champagne Charlie and The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze. The latter, written about flying trapeze circus performer Jules Léotard, is understood for the lyrics “He’d fly through the air with the greatest of ease / that daring young man on the flying trapeze”.

George was born Joseph Saunders in 1842, and soon tailored a stage title to tour the music halls of the UK – premiering his observe Champagne Charlie in 1866. He was finally employed at the Canterbury Music Hall on a wage of £25 a week, and given a carriage of his own drawn by 4 white horses. Soon he was incomes around £120 a week – the equal of £2,890 a week today.

In 2025, that could be an annual wage of £150,280 before tax. And that’s without the money he earned from his sponsorship from champagne company Moet and Chandon, who gave George a retainer and infinite free champagne in return for promoting their product.

George was so well-known he even had a movie based on his life launched in 1944 – aptly named Champagne Charlie.

But sadly, by the end of his life, his recognition had declined. He merely couldn’t adapt to the shifting leisure world, and was left impoverished. 

Former prime minister John Major, who penned a guide about the historical past of music halls, also explored the story of Leybourne. He told John Fleming at his weblog: “The great George Leybourne, the man who sang Champagne Charlie in the 1860s was earning £160 a week. What would that be worth today? You could buy a house then for £15.

“And not only was he paid £160 a week, but he was given free champagne all the time because he was advertising it, and he died penniless at 41 [sic – he died aged 42].

“He had lots of ‘friends’ and as the money began to disappear, the friends disappeared, and bitter and disillusioned, he died absolutely penniless. The money just ran through his hands. He would have made a very good Chancellor in a recent government.”