Craig Douglas, the British singer best known for the hit song “Only Sixteen,” dies aged 85 after a short illness. Multiple outlets report that he passes away peacefully, though they do not provide further medical details.

Douglas rose to chart prominence in the late 1950s. Metro and other coverage place his breakthrough around 1959, describing him as a chart-topper. Daily Record adds more detail about the name “Craig Douglas,” saying his manager suggested it after seeing it outside a house in Scotland.

Across the reports, “Only Sixteen” is consistently identified as his defining song, and several accounts emphasize his commercial success. Daily Record notes that Douglas’s version topped the UK charts and outsold Sam Cooke’s original. Other outlets focus more on his death and age, offering fewer specifics about chart comparisons, but they align on the core facts of his identity, fame, and the cause timing being linked to a short illness.