Who was the original lead singer of the band The Yardbirds?

The Yardbirds are an English rock band, formed in London in 1963. The band's core lineup featured vocalist and harmonica player Keith Relf, drummer Jim McCarty, rhythm guitarist and later bassist Chris Dreja, and bassist/producer Paul Samwell-Smith. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page. The band had a string of hits throughout the mid-1960s, including "For Your Love", "Heart Full of Soul", "Shapes of Things", and "Over Under Sideways Down".

Following the band's split in 1968, Relf and McCarty formed Renaissance. Guitarist Jimmy Page formed Led Zeppelin which was initially intended as a direct successor to the Yardbirds.

The Yardbirds re-formed in the 1990s, featuring McCarty and Dreja as the only original members. Dreja left the band in 2012, leaving McCarty as the sole original member of the band in the present lineup.

William Keith Relf (22 March 1943 – 12 May 1976) was an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist and harmonica player for rock band the Yardbirds.

Relf died in the basement of his home in 1976 at age 33 from electrocution while playing an electric guitar. He had had several health problems throughout his life, including emphysema and asthma. Medications he was taking commonly used to treat those diseases at the time may have contributed to his inability to survive the electric shock.