User:Lilduff90/Roger Engelbert Hillestad

Reggie Hill (born Roger Engelbert Hillestad, June 27th 1867 - died December 1st, 1969) was a Norwegian-born pianist, folk singer and songwriter.

Early life
Hillestad was born to parents Agnes and Johan Hillestad (both 1833 - 1901), the third of nine siblings. He was raised on the family farm, but after an accident in 1882, that left two of his brothers paralyzed and killed his youngest sister, his parents sent him away to work on a farm on the other side of the county. When he arrived at the new farm, he met and befriended Daniel Kleppvik, who tought him how to play the piano. He began working local churches as an organ player, and by 1887, he had left the farmer life to become a full time organist. In November 1887, Hillestad married his girlfriend, Magnhild, who was only two days younger than him. They soon realized that working as an organist wouldn't pay enough for the both of them to survive, and so they left for America the following year, hoping to find more work. On their passage across the Atlantic, Magnhild became pregnant with the couples first child, who was born not long after the couple arrived in Minnesota in November 1888.

Life as a musician
After arriving in Minnesota, Hillestad quickly found work as an organist, with three times the pay he recieved in Norway. He also worked nights as a pianist at a brothel when money was low. Only a few months after their first child was born, Magnhild again became pregnast, this time with twins. This forced Roger to quit his nightjob, as he needed more time to take care of his family. Some years would pass, and by 1905, he was working three different churches in Minnesota in order to support his family, now counting seven children. After a ceremony in August the same year, he was approached by Samuel Irving, a travelling minister, who wanted him to perform with them at a gospel concert in St. Paul a few weeks later. He was reportedly given two months worth of pay for the single performance. After this he was asked to join them on their traveling show, but he rejected, as he wanted to be with his family. However, he would join them on stage whenever they performed in Minnesota the next two years.

In 1911, Hillestad was again contacted by Irving, who has established his own record company, wanted him to partake in a recording of a handful of gospel recordings. He quit his job in the church, and travelled to St. Paul, where a makeshift studio had been set up in a motel room, and recorded four songs over the next two days. After seeing his performance, Irving realized that he had improved his playing even more since their last meeting five years prior, and asked him to partake in more recordings. By 1913, Hillestad had performed on more than twenty records.

In 1914, the First World War broke out, which limited the supply of shellac for recordings, causing the Irving Record Company to close it's doors in 1916, releasing Hillestad from his contract. However, the demand for music was still great, and Hillestad used the money earned from his recording to open a musical stage on a empty piece of land on his farm. With the aid of his sons and his wife, aswell as several musicians he had made contact with during his recording days, Hillestad and his wife, performing as Reggie and Maggie Hill, delivered musical revues every weekend for several years, until he sold his farm and moved to St. Paul with his wife and two youngest children, and retired from music.

In 1927, Hillestad, who was now fifty years old, once again entered the stage to perform with his wife, who had sung during his revues, during his 50th birthday party. One of the attendees, Frank Irving, son of Samuel Irving, heard this, and asked the two to record some of their songs, which Hillestad himself had written during his off-time. Although reluctant to re-enter the music industry, the couple accepted the offer, and recorded 12 songs onto five records over the next two weeks. The records were big hits in Minnesota, aswell as the neighboring states, and the couple received offers from various venues around the Mideast US on a daily basis. After much discussion, they decided to accept the offer, in order to afford a college education for their youngest son, who was studying to become a literature professor. During the next two years, they would perform every second weekend at music halls and dances around the mideast, until they decided that it was enough, and announced their final show, to be held in their hometown of St. Paul, on May 17th, 1930 (the Norwegian national day). After performing to their biggest audience yet, the couple retired from the music industry.

Later life and death
In 1949, nineteen years after their last show together, Magnhild died of heart failure at the age of 82. The loss of his wife saddened Roger to the point where he almost committed suicide, but his children talked him out of it, and took him to the church where he had worked almost 40 years ago, hoping to cheer him up. "He walked in a broken man, but when he saw that organ, just like it was all those years ago, he couldn't help himself. So he sat down by the keys, played a few notes, and a few minutes later, he was smiling just like he did when he was young. That organ brought him back to life", his son Roger Jr. recalled in a 1971 interview. After regaining his will to live, Roger began playing at the church again, despite his advanced age. He would keep on playing until 1964, when the death of his firstborn son sent him into deep depression. However, refusing to give in, Roger returned to the church the following year, but on June 12th, 1965, during his third perfomance after his sons death, Roger had a massive stroke, and collapsed at the organ, having fallen into a coma. He remained under hospital care for the rest of his life, but would occasionally wake up and chat with his visitors or family. He was paralyzed from the waist down, but moved around in a wheelchair. On June 26th, 1969, he suffered another stroke, this time much more powerful, and died the following day. He was 102 years old.

He was survived by six of his seven children, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.