Andy Bell

Andy Bell - © www.myspace.com/andy_bell

born on 25/4/1964 in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom

Andy Bell (singer)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
This article is about the lead singer of Erasure; there is also Andy Bell (musician), a member of the band Oasis.
Andy Bell
Birth name Andrew Ivan Bell
Born April 25 1964
Origin Peterborough, England
Genres Synthpop, Dance music
Occupations Singer, songwriter, remixer, DJ
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1985present
Labels Mute Records
Sanctuary Records
Associated acts Erasure
Website Official website

Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell (born 25 April 1964) is the lead singer of the English synthpop duo, Erasure.

Career

Originally working in a meat packing plant in the UK, Bell responded to a newspaper advert that was looking for a singer. He was picked by Vince Clarke and together they formed the group Erasure. The pair has sold over twenty million albums worldwide.

Apart from his work with Erasure, he has taken part in numerous charity recordings. These included Ferry Aid's cover of "Let It Be" (1987); a cover of Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot", that was included in 1990s Red Hot + Blue album to raise funds for AIDS and HIV research; re-making Lene Lovich's "Rage" alongside her to be included in PETA's album (1991) in favour of a wildlife campaign; and performing twice on Big Spender's Red Hot and Dance events to support various AIDS projects (in both December 1994 and November 2004). Bell also performed on the True Colors Tour 2008.

Bell sang the role of Montresor in the opera The Fall of the House of Usher by Peter Hammill and Judge Smith, released in 1991 and reissued with a new recording in 1999.

July 2005 brought the announcement of Bell's first solo album. He signed a worldwide solo recording contract with Sanctuary Records, and announced details of his debut album, which was released on 3 October 2005 and entitled Electric Blue. The album featured fourteen tracks, including three duets, with Claudia Brücken of Propaganda and Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters.

The first single, "Crazy", released on 26 September 2005, included club remixes from his Erasure partner Vince Clarke, plus Cicada, MHC and King Roc. Electric Blue was co-written and recorded throughout 2004 and 2005 with Manhattan Clique (Philip Larsen and Chris Smith) who have worked with Erasure, Moby, The B-52's, Stereophonics and Goldfrapp.

Bell will release his second solo album, Non-Stop, on 24 May 2010.[1] It was co-written and co-produced by Bell and Pascal Gabriel, who previously remixed "It Doesn't Have to Be" for Erasure. It also features a collaboration with Perry Farrell.

Using the pseudonym Mimó, Bell released two Pascal Gabriel-produced singles on Mute Records: "Running Out" (2009)[2] and "Will You Be There?" (2010)[3] prior to his second solo album.[4] The name, used as a "tribute to good friend Tomeau Mimó, was not used on any subsequent solo releases, as a legal block was issued against Bell by another artist already using the Mimó name.[5] Both songs will appear on Non-Stop.[1] Both of these singles have since been re-branded as Andy Bell.

Personal life

Originating from the Dogsthorpe area in Peterborough, he has family still residing locally in the city and surrounding areas such as Market Deeping. He was a long time partner of Paul J. Hickey. Since the early 2000s, he also practises reiki. He is also openly gay. On 17 December 2004 he publicly announced that he is HIV-positive and has been aware of this since 1998.[6]

Discography

Albums

  • 2005 Electric Blue (SANCD382) #12 U.S. Top Electronic Albums
  • 2010 Non-Stop (2010)[1]

Singles

  • 2005 "Crazy" #35 UK,[7] #3 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
  • 2006 "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"
  • 2009 "Running Out" (as Mimó)
  • 2010 "Will You Be There?" (as Mimó)
  • 2010 "Call on Me"[1]

Remixes

  • 2008 Yazoo - "Nobody's Diary (Andy Bell & Jc Remix)"

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Andy Bell official website, press release
  2. Mute Records, "Running Out"
  3. Mute Records, "Will You Be There?"
  4. Andy Bell official website, news section
  5. Erasure official website, News section
  6. MTV.com
  7. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums, 19th, London: Guinness World Records Limited.

External links

  • Official Andy Bell site
  • Official Andy Bell MySpace
  • Official Erasure site
Erasure
Vince Clarke | Andy Bell
This page was last modified 25.04.2010 11:11:03

This article uses material from the article Andy Bell (singer) from the free encyclopedia Wikipedia and it is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.