Mike Harding (born 1944) is a British singer/comedian.

Harding was born in Crumpsall, a suburb of the English city of Manchester. He is known as "The Rochdale Cowboy" after one of his hit records. He was a broadcaster, stand up comic, photographer, traveller, film maker, playwright, poet, travel writer and musician.

He was educated at St Anne's, Crumpsall, and St Bede's, Manchester. After a varied career as a road digger, dustbin man, steel erector, bus conductor, boiler scaler and chemical factory worker, he took a degree in English and Education at the University of Manchester. Following this he became a folk singer and stand-up comic, in which guise he made several series for the BBC and appeared on numerous TV and Radio programmes, including two series of travel films in Ireland and the Appalachian Mountains of America.

He recently made a series of fourteen short films on minority religions in England for the BBC's Heaven and Earth show, and for the last five years has presented the Radio 2 flagship folk and roots programme The Mike Harding Show every Wednesday from 8 pm to 9 pm British time.

External links

• The Official Mike Harding Web Site
• Biography