Phil Manzanera (born Philip Geoffrey Targett-Adams, 31 January 1951) is a British musician and record producer. He is the lead guitarist with Roxy Music. In 2006 Manzanera co-produced David Gilmour's album On an Island and played in Gilmour's band for tours in Europe and North America. He wrote and presented a series of 14 one-hour radio programs for station Planet Rock entitled The A-Z of Great Guitarists and his instrumental album, Firebird V11, was released in 2008.
Stephen Peter Marriott (30 January 1947 – 20 April 1991) was an English musician, songwriter and frontman of two notable rock and roll bands, spanning over two decades. Marriott is remembered for his powerful singing voice which belied his small stature, and for his aggressive approach as a guitarist in mod rock bands Small Faces (1965–1969 and 1977-1978) and Humble Pie (1969–1975 and 1980–1981). Marriott was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Small Faces.
In Britain, Marriott became a popular, often-photographed mod style icon through his role as lead singer and guitarist with the Small Faces in the mid to late 1960s. Marriott was influenced from an early age by his heroes including Buddy Holly, Booker T & the MG's, Ray Charles, Otis Redding, Muddy Waters and Bobby Bland. In later life Marriott became disillusioned with the music industry and turned his back on the big record companies, remaining in relative obscurity. He returned to his music roots playing the pubs and clubs around London and Essex.
Marriott died on 20 April 1991 when a fire, which was thought to have been caused by a cigarette, swept through his 16th century home in Arkesden, Essex. He posthumously received an Ivor Novello Award in 1996 for his Outstanding Contribution to British Music, and was listed in Mojo as one of the top 100 greatest singers of all time.
Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne named Marriott the fourth greatest singer and Clem Burke of Blondie named him the sixteenth greatest singer. Paul Stanley of Kiss has said, "He had a great voice" and went on to say, "Steve Marriott was unbelievable". Keith Richards listed Marriott as one of his five favorite artists of all time. Steve Perry of Journey has said that, "One of my favorite vocalists was Steve Marriott."
Philip David Charles "Phil" Collins, LVO (born 30 January 1951) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, actor and writer, best known both as drummer and vocalist for English rock group Genesis and as a solo artist. He sang the lead vocals on dozens of hit albums and singles in the UK and the US between 1976 and 2010, either as a solo artist or with Genesis.
Collins joined Genesis in 1970 as the group's drummer and became their vocalist in 1975 following the departure of their original frontman Peter Gabriel. His solo career, which was launched in 1981 and was heavily influenced by his personal life and soul music, brought both himself and Genesis greater commercial success. Collins's total worldwide sales as a solo artist are 150 million. Collins has won numerous music awards throughout his career, including seven Grammy Awards, six Brit Awards—winning Best British Male three times, three American Music Awards, an Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards and a Disney Legend Award in 2002 for his solo work. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1999, was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003, and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Genesis in 2010.
Collins is one of only three recording artists (along with Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson) who have sold over 100 million albums worldwide both as solo artists and (separately) as principal members of a band. When his work with Genesis, his work with other artists, as well as his solo career is totaled, Collins had more top 40 hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart during the 1980s than any other artist. In 2008, Collins was ranked the 22nd most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". He announced his retirement from music in 2011 to focus on his family life, but indicated in 2014 that he was still writing songs. He announced his return to the music industry in 2015.
David Garrick (29 January 1947 – 28 February 1985), better known by his stage name David Byron, was a British singer and songwriter, best known in the early 1970s as the lead vocalist with the rock band Uriah Heep and recognized for his charismatic stage presence and his operatic voice.
Danish heavy metal vocalist King Diamond cites Byron as his favorite vocalist of all time.
From mid-60s to early 70s David Byron did session work for a company called Avenue Recordings, singing lead and backing vocals (occasionally along with Mick Box on guitar and Paul Newton on bass). These were cover versions of Top 20 hits and were released on EPs & LPs.
His first venture into professional music was with an Epping-based semi-pro band called The Stalkers who also featured guitarist Mick Box. Byron and Box worked well together and teamed up to form the band Spice which also featured Paul Newton on bass and Alex Napier on drums. The band gigged extensively locally under the management of Paul Newton's father and they secured a recording deal with United Artists who issued the band's one and only single "What About The Music/In Love" (UP 2246), copies of which now fetch around $50 to $100 on the collectors market.
He was the lead vocalist for Spice (1967–1969). Although Spice regularly played venues like the Marquee it wasn't until they met up with manager Gerry Bron that things began to happen. Deciding that the Spice sound would require keyboards; they recruited keyboardist/guitarist/singer/songwriter Ken Hensley, who was Paul Newton's bandmate in The Gods. The band rehearsed and played diligently and during this time Bron redubbed the band Uriah Heep from the Charles Dickens classic David Copperfield. Shortly afterward the band's career really took off, first in Germany, Britain and finally the States. In 1971 David also appeared on two LPs by John Schroeder.
He became most famous as the original singer of the English rock band Uriah Heep between 1969 and 1976. David Byron sang on ten Uriah Heep albums: Their first "Very 'eavy Very 'Umble" (originally slated as a Spice release which becomes apparent after listening to "The Lansdowne Tapes",) "Salisbury", "Look at Yourself", "Demons And Wizards", "The Magician's Birthday", "Live", "Sweet Freedom", "Wonderworld", "Return To Fantasy", and "High And Mighty". During these six years David Byron gained a reputation with his operatic vocals and harmonies as one of the best rock vocalists and frontmen in the world. In 1975 Byron released his first solo album, "Take No Prisoners" (Bronze Records ILPS 9824) which also featured fellow Heep members Mick Box, Ken Hensley and Lee Kerslake. But unfortunately for Byron, he'd also gained a reputation for hard drinking which eventually led to him being sacked from Uriah Heep at the end of a Spanish tour in July 1976. Ken Hensley said at that time, "David was one of those classic people who couldn't face up to the fact that things were wrong and he looked for solace in a bottle". Ahead of his dismissal, Uriah Heep had secured a replacement singer. Their manager at the time, Gerry Bron, said Byron had been released in "the best interest of the group". Bron explained that Byron and the other Heep members had been in disagreement for some time over fundamental issues of group policy, and that the differences had been finally brought to a head following the band's recent tour of Britain and Europe. "It was felt by the rest of the group that they could no longer reconcile David's attitude with their own", commented Bron.
Byron recorded three solo albums: "Take No Prisoners" in 1975, "Baby Faced Killer" in 1978, and "That Was Only Yesterday". The latter was recorded in 1984, one year before his death.
Byron died of alcohol-related complications, including liver disease and seizures, at his home in Berkshire on 28 February 1985. He was 38 years old.
On BBC Radio's The Friday Rock Show Tommy Vance played "July Morning" in tribute.
On the "Equator" tour, around the time of Byron's passing, Uriah Heep would dedicate "The Wizard" to him.
Gary Tibbs (born Gary Brian Tibbs, 25 January 1958) is a bass guitarist and actor. He is best known as a member of Adam and the Ants and Roxy Music. He also appeared (playing the part of bass guitarist, Dave) in the film Breaking Glass, alongside Hazel O'Connor.
Tibbs was born in Northwood, London. He was a member of Adam and the Ants, and is mentioned by name in the lyrics of the band's UK top ten hit "Ant Rap". At various times he was a member of Zu Zu Sharks, Code Blue, Roxy Music, The Vibrators and The Fixx. He first played on The Fixx's 2003 album, Want That Life. Tibbs also played on select tracks on Brian May’s 1993 solo album Back to the Light.
He also formed a band called Merrick and Tibbs with Chris Hughes (a.k.a. Merrick), just after leaving Adam & the Ants. They released a single in 1982 entitled "Call of the Wild".
In February 2008, Tibbs left The Fixx upon the return of previous bassist, Dan K. Brown.
Michael Kelland John Hutchence (22 January 1960 – 22 November 1997) was an Australian musician and actor. He was a founding member and the lead singer and lyricist of rock band INXS from 1977 until his death in 1997. INXS were an Australian rock band, formed as The Farriss Brothers in 1977 in Sydney, New South Wales. They began playing covers in Western Australian pubs and clubs, occasionally playing some of their original music. Mainstays were main composer and keyboardist Andrew Farriss, drummer Jon Farriss, guitarists Tim Farriss and Kirk Pengilly, bassist Garry Gary Beers and main lyricist and vocalist Michael Hutchence. For twenty years, INXS was fronted by Hutchence, whose "sultry good looks" and magnetic stage presence made him the focal point of the band. Initially known for their new wave/pop style, the band later developed a harder pub rock style that included funk and dance elements.
In 1980, INXS first charted in their native Australia with their debut self-titled album, but later garnered moderate success in other countries with Shabooh Shoobah and a single, "The One Thing". Though The Swing brought more success from around the world, its single "Original Sin" was even greater commercially, becoming their first number-one single. They would later achieve international success with a series of hit recordings through later in the 1980s and the 1990s, including the albums Listen Like Thieves, Kick, and X, and the singles "What You Need", "Need You Tonight", "Devil Inside", "Never Tear Us Apart", and "Suicide Blonde".
In the 1990s, INXS achieved a new fan following through Hutchence's romance with fellow Australian singer Kylie Minogue, and achieved greater acclaim in the United Kingdom. However, starting with Welcome to Wherever You Are, in 1992, they achieved less success in the United States. After Hutchence was found dead in his hotel suite in Sydney in November 1997, the band did not perform publicly for a year.
INXS won six Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) awards including three for 'Best Group' in 1987, 1989 and 1992, and was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2001. INXS has sold over 55 million records worldwide.
Hutchence was a member of short-lived pop rock group Max Q and recorded solo material which was released posthumously. He acted in feature films, including Dogs in Space (1986), Frankenstein Unbound (1990) and Limp (1997). According to rock music historian, Ian McFarlane, "Hutchence was the archetypal rock showman. He exuded an overtly sexual, macho cool with his flowing locks, and lithe and exuberant stage movements". Hutchence won the 'Best International Artist' at the 1991 BRIT Awards with INXS winning the related group award.
His private life was often reported in the Australian and international press, with a string of love affairs with prominent actresses, models and singers. Hutchence's relationship with UK television presenter Paula Yates began while she was divorcing musician and Live Aid organiser, Bob Geldof. Hutchence and Yates had a daughter in 1996.
On the morning of 22 November 1997, Hutchence was found dead in his hotel room in Sydney. His death was reported by the New South Wales Coroner to be the result of suicide. In 2000, Yates died of a heroin overdose. The couple's daughter was placed in Geldof's custody with her half-sisters.
Robert Allen Palmer (19 January 1949 – 26 September 2003) was an English singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was known for his distinctive, soulful voice, eclectic mix of musical styles on his albums, combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, blues, and sartorial acumen. He found success both in his solo career and with the Power Station, and had Top 10 songs in both the UK and the US.
His iconic music videos directed by British fashion photographer Terence Donovan for the hits "Addicted to Love", "Simply Irresistible" and "I Didn't Mean to Turn You On" featured identically dressed dancing women with pale faces, dark-eye makeup and bright-red lipstick, which resembled the women in the art of Patrick Nagel, an artist popular in the 1980s. Palmer's involvement in the music industry commenced in the 1960s, covered four decades and included a spell with Vinegar Joe. Palmer received a number of awards throughout his career, including two Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, an MTV Video Music Award, and two Brit Award nominations for Best British Male.
Palmer died in a Paris hotel room from a heart attack on 26 September 2003 at the age of 54. He had been in the French capital after recording a television appearance in London for Yorkshire TV, a retrospective titled "My Kinda People". He was survived by his parents; three children from his first marriage (Anthony, Anna, and Martin); a son, Jim, and daughter, Jane, from his second marriage; his brother, Mark; and his girlfriend, Mary Ambrose. Among those who paid tribute were Duran Duran, stating: "He was a very dear friend and a great artist. This is a tragic loss to the British music industry.
Susanna Lee Hoffs (born January 17, 1959) is an American vocalist, guitarist and actress. She is best known as a co-founder of The Bangles.
Hoffs was born in Los Angeles, California. Her mother played Beatles music for Hoffs when she was a child, and she began playing the guitar in her teens. Hoffs attended Palisades High School in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, graduating in 1976. While in college she worked as a production assistant and made her acting debut in the 1978 film Stony Island.
In 1980, Hoffs graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, with a bachelor's degree in art. When she entered Berkeley, she was a fan of classic rock bands that played in large stadiums. While a student at Berkeley, she attended the final Sex Pistols show at Winterland Ballroom and a Patti Smith concert. Exposure to punk rock changed her career goal from a dancer to musician in a band. She eventually joined Vicki Peterson and Debbi Peterson in what would later become the pop music group The Bangles.
The Bangles' first recorded release was a self-titled EP in 1982 on the Faulty Products Label. The Bangles released their first full album All Over the Place in 1984 on Columbia Records. They had a moderate hit with the single "Hero Takes a Fall", but their commercial breakthrough came with the album Different Light in 1986, which produced the hit singles "Manic Monday", "If She Knew What She Wants", and "Walk Like an Egyptian".
The Bangles disbanded in 1989 but in the late 1990s, Hoffs contacted the other members of The Bangles with the hope of reuniting. They recorded the single "Get the Girl" for the second Austin Powers movie in 1999. Subsequently, they announced their decision to reunite full-time in 2000. Their fourth album, Doll Revolution, was released in 2003.
Hoffs released a solo album, When You're a Boy, in 1991, which spawned a U.S Top 40 hit with "My Side of the Bed." In the UK the single landed at #44, for only 4 weeks on chart, and the album also landed decently in Europe.
Hoffs recorded another album in 1993-94, prior to leaving Columbia Records, but it went unreleased. In 1996, Hoffs released her second solo album, Susanna Hoffs. Although it received much praise in the media and yielded a minor US hit and a UK hit at #33 for 2 weeks with a cover of the Lightning Seeds single "All I Want", it still was not a big commercial success.
Mike Myers, Matthew Sweet, and Hoffs formed the faux British 1960s band Ming Tea after Myers' Saturday Night Live stint in the early 1990s. They all adopted pseudonyms for the band, with Hoffs using the name Gillian Shagwell and Myers creating Austin Powers. This group made a number of club and television performances and had a minor hit with the song "BBC". Myers's then wife Robin Ruzan encouraged him to write a film based on the character. The result was Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery, directed by Hoffs' husband Jay Roach. Ming Tea performed in all three Austin Powers films.
Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English musician, best known as a former member of John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1966–69) and the Rolling Stones (1969–74). He has appeared on some of the Stones' classic albums including Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St..
Since leaving the Rolling Stones in December 1974, Taylor has worked with numerous other artists and released several solo albums. From November 2012 onwards he participated in the Stones' 50th-Anniversary shows in London and Newark, and in the band's 50 & Counting World Tour, which included North America, Glastonbury Festival and Hyde Park in 2013. The band decided to continue in 2014 with concerts in the UAE, Far East & Australia and Europe for the 14 On Fire tour. He was ranked 37th in Rolling Stone magazine's 2011 list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash states that Taylor had the biggest influence on him.
Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder (along with partner Walter Becker) and lead singer of the rock band Steely Dan.
Fagen is known for his use of jazz harmonies, elaborate arrangements and attention to detail. Following the initial breakup of Steely Dan
in 1981, he launched a long-running, if sporadic, solo career in 1982,
spawning four albums to date. The fourth album—Sunken Condos—was
released on October 16, 2012. In 1993, Fagen and Becker reunited and
have since toured and released more albums as Steely Dan.
Aynsley Thomas Dunbar (born 10 January 1946) is an English drummer. He has worked with some of the top names in rock, including Nils Lofgren, Eric Burdon, John Mayall, Frank Zappa, Ian Hunter, Lou Reed, Jefferson Starship, Jeff Beck, David Bowie, Whitesnake, Sammy Hagar, Michael Schenker, UFO, Flo & Eddie and Journey. Dunbar is ranked by Rolling Stone as the twenty-seventh greatest drummer of all time.
Dunbar turned down both Jimmy Page's offer to form Led
Zeppelin and Robert Fripp's to start King Crimson from out of the ashes
of Giles, Giles & Fripp; quit the original Jeff Beck Group lineup
over Jeff's notorious career-casualness (Dunbar wanted to play nightly,
not monthly); lost Hendrix's coin flip to Mitch Mitchell to be the
Experience drummer (shame on you, Jimi) before being aggressively
courted by Frank Zappa to play the most complex arrangements in rock
Roderick David "Rod" Stewart, CBE (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock singer-songwriter of Scottish and English ancestry. He is one of the best selling music artists of all time, having sold over 100 million records worldwide.
In the UK, he has had six consecutive number one albums, and his tally of 62 hit singles include 31 that reached the top 10, six of which gained the number one position. He has had 16 top ten singles in the U.S, with four of these reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.
With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group and then with the Faces. He launched his solo career in 1969 with his debut album An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down (US: The Rod Stewart Album). His early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music and R&B. His aggressive blues work with The Jeff Beck Group and the Faces influenced heavy metal genres. From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Stewart's music often took on a New Wave or soft rock/MOR quality, and in the early 2000s he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook.
In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "The Billboard Hot 100 Top All-Time Artists". A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at No. 33 in Q Magazine's list of the top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and No. 59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of Faces, in 2012.
David Robert Jones (January 8, 1947-January 10, 2016), known by his stage name David Bowie, is an English musician, singer-songwriter, producer, actor and arranger. Bowie has been a major figure in the world of popular music for over four decades, and is renowned as an innovator, particularly for his work in the 1970s. He is known for his distinctive voice as well as the intellectual depth and eclecticism of his work.
Bowie first caught the eye and ear of the public in July 1969, when his song "Space Oddity" reached the top five of the UK Singles Chart. After a three-year period of experimentation he re-emerged in 1972 during the glam rock era with the flamboyant, androgynous alter ego Ziggy Stardust, spearheaded by the hit single "Starman" and the album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Bowie's impact at that time, as described by biographer David Buckley, "challenged the core belief of the rock music of its day" and "created perhaps the biggest cult in popular culture." The relatively short-lived Ziggy persona proved merely one facet of a career marked by continual reinvention, musical innovation and striking visual presentation.
In 1975, Bowie achieved his first major American crossover success with the number-one single "Fame" and the hit album Young Americans, which the singer characterized as "plastic soul". The sound constituted a radical shift in style that initially alienated many of his UK devotees. He then confounded the expectations of both his record label and his American audiences by recording the minimalist album Low (1977)—the first of three collaborations with Brian Eno over the next two years. These so-called "Berlin Trilogy" albums all reached the UK top five and received lasting critical praise. After uneven commercial success in the late 1970s, Bowie had UK number ones with the 1980 single "Ashes to Ashes", its parent album Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps), and "Under Pressure", a 1981 collaboration with Queen. He then reached a new commercial peak in 1983 with Let's Dance, which yielded several hit singles. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Bowie continued to experiment with musical styles, including blue-eyed soul, industrial, adult contemporary, and jungle. He has not toured since the 2003–04 Reality Tour and has not performed live since 2006. Bowie's latest studio album The Next Day was released in March 2013.
Buckley says of Bowie: "His influence has been unique in popular culture—he has permeated and altered more lives than any comparable figure." In the BBC's 2002 poll of the 100 Greatest Britons, Bowie was placed at number 29. Throughout his career, he has sold an estimated 140 million albums. In the UK, he has been awarded nine Platinum album certifications, 11 Gold and eight Silver, and in the US, five Platinum and seven Gold certifications. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him 39th on their list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and 23rd on their list of the best singers of all time.
Robert Alan "Robby" Krieger (born January 8, 1946) is an American rock guitarist and songwriter. He was the guitarist in The Doors, and wrote or co-wrote many of the band's songs, including "Light My Fire", "Love Me Two Times", "Touch Me", and "Love Her Madly".
He is listed as number 91 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time.
Michael Houser (January 6, 1962 – August 10, 2002) was a founding member and lead guitarist of the band Widespread Panic. He appeared on seven studio albums during his 16-year tenure with the band from 1986 till 2002. He is also featured on 4 live albums by Widespread Panic (2 released posthumously), as well as several archive releases, live video concerts and compilations.
Michael "Mikey" Houser was born in Boone, North Carolina, graduated from Hixson High School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and became a founding member of Widespread Panic in 1986 while attending the University of Georgia with John Bell. Michael's adolescent nickname was "Panic" due to his then frequent panic attacks, and this moniker later became the inspiration for the band's name.
Widespread Panic's large rhythm section, and John Bell's virtuosity as a rhythm guitarist, allowed Michael to pursue an atmospheric lead guitar style that often lingered behind the primary melodies. His predominant use of the Ernie Ball volume pedal caused him to spend most of his performance time balanced on one leg, this would eventually lead to circulation problems causing his left leg to become numb. In 1996, during an acoustic tour known as the "Sit and Ski" tour, he was reminded of how much more comfortable and accurate his playing was while he was seated. Subsequently, Houser returned to playing all shows seated in 1997. His playing style used a volume pedal for sonic effect, rather than just for volume control.
Widespread Panic always shared writing credits for all of their songs during the Houser era, but he wrote many of the band's standards, including Porch Song, Airplane, Ain't Life Grand, The Waker, Impossible, B of D, and Vacation.
Diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the spring of 2002, he died on August 10 of that year, in Athens, Georgia, at the age of 40. A solo album of his instrumentals entitled Door Harp was released after his death, and was followed by Sandbox in 2006. He is survived by his wife Barbette and two children, Waker and Eva.
Widespread Panic has continued to tour and record after Houser's passing as was his wish.
