Dai Francis, one of the leading vocalists with The Black and White Minstrels show, which topped the television ratings for almost two decades, has died at the age of 73.

Francis was one of three lead singers alongside Tony Mercer and John Boulter, and was particularly well known for his solo renditions of songs by Al Jolson.

The minstrels, performing a repertoire of Dixie and jazz and traditional US music from the deep South, drew more than 18 million viewers at the height of their TV success.

In 1961, the show won the Golden Rose at the inaugural Montreux Festival, seeing off competition that included Fred Astaire and the Kirov Ballet.

By the late 1960s, there was a growing clamour for the show to be axed on the grounds that it was racially offensive and caricatured African-Americans. But, despite opposition from organisations such as the Commission for Racial Equality, the BBC kept the show on air

until 1978.

Swansea-born Francis, the son of a music hall performer, always maintained the blacking up to perform was not offensive, but part of theatrical

heritage. He was a well-established as a Jolson impersonator when he joined the George Mitchell Singers in 1954.

The Minstrels became the only artists to hold the first,

second and fourth places at the same time in the United Kingdom album charts.