Andy Bell (singer)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Ivan "Andy" Bell (born 25 April 1964) is the lead singer of the English synthpop
duo
Erasure
. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue
.
. His family still resides in the city and surrounding areas such as Market Deeping
.
and together they formed the group Erasure
. The pair has sold over 20 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 remix
es 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 released his second solo album, Non-Stop, on 7 June 2010. 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) and "Will You Be There?" (2010) prior to his second solo album. 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. Both songs will appear on Non-Stop. Both of these singles have since been re-branded as Andy Bell.
In June 2011, he appeared on the second season
of ITV
series Popstar to Operastar
and finished in fifth place.
and has been aware of this since 1998. Bell told Melody Maker
in 1986, "I don't want to go out of my way to talk about it but I'm not going to pretend I'm not [gay]. I won't portray a heterosexual in videos and we're consciously doing lyrics that could apply to either sex". He told Barry Walters of Seventeen
, "I want to be known as a good performer but it's important for me to take a stance. If you're doing music you use it for something and have substance being gay and open about it."
In a 2007 interview, Bell remarked that a complacency exists among gay men about HIV, specifying that:
He has also practiced reiki
since the early 2000s. He has suffered from avascular necrosis
(which has no relationship to his HIV diagnosis) and has had both hips replaced. Bell has stated that this keeps him from "pogoing around" compared to previous performances.
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...
duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
. He also has a solo career, with the albums Non-Stop and Electric Blue
Electric Blue (album)
Electric Blue is the debut solo album by Erasure frontman Andy Bell, released 3 October 2005 by Sanctuary Records. The album was released in-between the Erasure albums Nightbird and Union Street...
.
Early life
Andy Bell originates from the Dogsthorpe area in PeterboroughPeterborough
Peterborough is a cathedral city and unitary authority area in the East of England, with an estimated population of in June 2007. For ceremonial purposes it is in the county of Cambridgeshire. Situated north of London, the city stands on the River Nene which flows into the North Sea...
. His family still resides in the city and surrounding areas such as Market Deeping
Market Deeping
Market Deeping is a market town in Lincolnshire, England, on the north bank of the River Welland and the A15 road.-Geography:It is the second largest of The Deepings and its eponymous market has been held since at least 1220. The river here forms the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire border with...
.
Career
In 1985, he was working in a meat packing plant, when he responded to a newspaper advert that was looking for a singer. He was picked by Vince ClarkeVince Clarke
Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
and together they formed the group Erasure
Erasure
Erasure are an English synthpop duo, consisting of songwriter and keyboardist Vince Clarke and singer Andy Bell. Erasure entered the music scene in 1985 with their debut single "Who Needs Love Like That"...
. The pair has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.
Apart from his work with Erasure, he has taken part in numerous charity recordings
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
. These included Ferry Aid's cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of "Let It Be" (1987); a cover of Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
's "Too Darn Hot
Too Darn Hot
"Too Darn Hot" is a popular song written by Cole Porter for his musical Kiss Me, Kate . In the stage version, it is sung at the start of Act 2, and in the 1948 original Broadway production, it was sung by Lorenzo Fuller and Eddie Sledge and Fred Davis...
", that was included in 1990s Red Hot + Blue album to raise funds for AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
research; re-making Lene Lovich
Lene Lovich
Lene Lovich is an American singer based in England, who first gained attention as part of the New Wave music scene of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her most popular hit single was "Lucky Number", first released in 1979.-Early years:...
's "Rage" alongside her to be included in PETA
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is an American animal rights organization based in Norfolk, Virginia, and led by Ingrid Newkirk, its international president. A non-profit corporation with 300 employees and two million members and supporters, it claims to be the largest animal rights...
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
The Fall Of The House Of Usher (opera)
The Fall of the House of Usher is an opera by Peter Hammill and Chris Judge Smith . It is based on the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe....
by Peter Hammill
Peter Hammill
Peter Joseph Andrew Hammill is an English singer-songwriter, and a founding member of the progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Most noted for his vocal abilities, his main instruments are guitar and piano...
and Judge Smith
Judge Smith
Christopher John Judge Smith , is a songwriter, composer and performer, and a founder member of progressive rock band Van der Graaf Generator. Initially working under the name Chris Judge Smith, he has been known simply as Judge Smith since 1994.- Early years :In 1967, with Peter Hammill, Judge...
, released in 1991 and reissued with a new recording in 1999.
July 2005 brought the announcement of Bell's first solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
album. He signed a worldwide solo recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...
with Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records
Sanctuary Records Group Limited was a record label based in the United Kingdom and a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Until June 2007, it was the largest independent record label in the UK and the largest independent music management company in the world...
, and announced details of his debut album, which was released on 3 October 2005 and entitled Electric Blue
Electric Blue (album)
Electric Blue is the debut solo album by Erasure frontman Andy Bell, released 3 October 2005 by Sanctuary Records. The album was released in-between the Erasure albums Nightbird and Union Street...
. The album featured fourteen tracks, including three duets
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
, with Claudia Brücken
Claudia Brücken
Claudia Brücken is a German singer who fronted the synthpop groups Propaganda and Act. Since 1996 she has been working with OMD member Paul Humphreys, first without a name, since 2004 as Onetwo...
of Propaganda
Propaganda (band)
Propaganda is a German synthpop group, formed in 1982. They were one of the initial roster of acts signed to Trevor Horn's ZTT label, between 1984 and 1986, during which they released the critically acclaimed album A Secret Wish....
and Jake Shears
Jake Shears
Jake Shears is the lead male vocalist for the American music group Scissor Sisters.-Early life and education:...
of Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters
Scissor Sisters are an American band "spawned by the scuzzy, gay nightlife scene of New York" who took their name from a sexual position between two women also known as tribadism...
.
The first single, "Crazy", released on 26 September 2005, included club remix
Remix
A remix is an alternative version of a recorded song, made from an original version. This term is also used for any alterations of media other than song ....
es from his Erasure partner Vince Clarke
Vince Clarke
Vince Clarke is an English synthpop musician and songwriter. Clarke has been involved with a number of successful groups, including Depeche Mode, Yazoo, The Assembly and Erasure....
, plus Cicada
Cicada (band)
Cicada is the name of a United Kingdom based electronic music band. Members include producers Aaron Gilbert , Alex Payne and several guest vocalists including Tom Smith from Editors, Heidrun Bjornsdottir, Ben Onono, Max Berlin, Bjorn from Pacific! and most recently Megan Quashie, Joel Pott, Nik...
, MHC and King Roc. Electric Blue was co-written and recorded throughout 2004 and 2005 with Manhattan Clique
Manhattan Clique
The Manhattan Clique are producers, remixers and writers Philip Larsen and Chris Smith. Regular visitors to the higher reaches of the Music Week Club and Pop charts in the UK, plus the Billboard dance chart in the US, Manhattan Clique are equally at home with their more underground MHC guise as...
(Philip Larsen and Chris Smith) who have worked with Erasure, Moby
Moby
Richard Melville Hall , better known by his stage name Moby, is an American musician, DJ, and photographer. He is known mainly for his sample-based electronic music and his outspoken liberal political views, including his support of veganism and animal rights.Moby gained attention in the early...
, The B-52's
The B-52's
The B-52's are an American rock band, formed in Athens, Georgia in 1976. The original line-up consisted of Fred Schneider , Kate Pierson , Cindy Wilson , Ricky Wilson , and Keith Strickland . Following Ricky Wilson's death in 1985 Strickland switched to guitar...
, Stereophonics
Stereophonics
The Stereophonics are a Welsh rock band now living in turners x that formed in 1992 in the village of Cwmaman in Cynon Valley, Wales. The band currently comprises lead vocalist and guitarist Kelly Jones, bassist and backing vocalist Richard Jones, drummer Javier Weyler, guitarist and backing...
and Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp
Goldfrapp are an English electronic music duo, formed in 1999 in London, England, that consists of Alison Goldfrapp and Will Gregory ....
.
Bell released his second solo album, Non-Stop, on 7 June 2010. It was co-written and co-produced by Bell and Pascal Gabriel
Pascal Gabriel
Pascal Richard Marcel Gabriel is a Belgian-born musician based in London. His musical career began in 1977 in the punk rock band The Razors...
, who previously remixed "It Doesn't Have to Be
It Doesn't Have To Be
"It Doesn't Have to Be" is a song by British synthpop duo Erasure, released in February 1987. It was issued as a single six weeks before the release of the duo's second album, The Circus....
" for Erasure. It also features a collaboration with Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell
Perry Farrell is the frontman for the alternative rock band Jane's Addiction. Farrell created the touring festival Lollapalooza as a farewell tour for Jane's Addiction in 1991; it has since evolved into an annual destination festival. Farrell continues to produce Lollapalooza with partners William...
.
Using the pseudonym Mimó, Bell released two Pascal Gabriel-produced singles on Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
: "Running Out" (2009) and "Will You Be There?" (2010) prior to his second solo album. 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. Both songs will appear on Non-Stop. Both of these singles have since been re-branded as Andy Bell.
In June 2011, he appeared on the second season
Popstar to Operastar (series 2)
The second UK series of Popstar to Operastar began on 4 June 2011, with eight celebrities in competition to become an opera singer, after acheving success as a popstar. The judges were confirmed; with Rolando Villazón and Katherine Jenkins and two new judges Vanessa-Mae and Simon Callow, who took...
of ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
series Popstar to Operastar
Popstar to Operastar
Popstar to Operastar is a British television programme singing competition based around the training of pop stars of current to be able to sing opera. The show began airing on ITV on 15 January 2010 at 9pm. The show is repeated on TV3 Ireland on Saturday evening. The programme is produced by...
and finished in fifth place.
Personal life
He is openly gay and was a longtime partner of Paul J. Hickey. On 17 December 2004, he publicly announced that he is HIV-positiveHIV positive people
HIV-positive people are people who have the human immunodeficiency virus HIV, the agent of the currently incurable disease AIDS.Over the years of coping with the stigma and discrimination that accompany the diagnosis in most societies, a large number of support groups have been formed...
and has been aware of this since 1998. Bell told Melody Maker
Melody Maker
Melody Maker, published in the United Kingdom, was, according to its publisher IPC Media, the world's oldest weekly music newspaper. It was founded in 1926 as a magazine targeted at musicians; in 2000 it was merged into "long-standing rival" New Musical Express.-1950s–1960s:Originally the Melody...
in 1986, "I don't want to go out of my way to talk about it but I'm not going to pretend I'm not [gay]. I won't portray a heterosexual in videos and we're consciously doing lyrics that could apply to either sex". He told Barry Walters of Seventeen
Seventeen (magazine)
Seventeen is an American magazine for teenagers. It was first published in September 1944 by Walter Annenberg's Triangle Publications. News Corporation bought Triangle in 1988, and sold Seventeen to K-III Communications in 1991. Primedia sold the magazine to Hearst in 2003. It is still in the...
, "I want to be known as a good performer but it's important for me to take a stance. If you're doing music you use it for something and have substance being gay and open about it."
In a 2007 interview, Bell remarked that a complacency exists among gay men about HIV, specifying that:
He has also practiced reiki
Reiki
is a spiritual practice developed in 1922 by Japanese Buddhist Mikao Usui. The teaching was continued and adapted by various teachers. It uses a technique commonly called palm healing as a form of complementary and alternative medicine and is sometimes classified as oriental medicine by some...
since the early 2000s. He has suffered from avascular necrosis
Avascular necrosis
Avascular necrosis is a disease where there is cellular death of bone components due to interruption of the blood supply. Without blood, the bone tissue dies and the bone collapses...
(which has no relationship to his HIV diagnosis) and has had both hips replaced. Bell has stated that this keeps him from "pogoing around" compared to previous performances.
Albums
- 2005: Electric BlueElectric Blue (album)Electric Blue is the debut solo album by Erasure frontman Andy Bell, released 3 October 2005 by Sanctuary Records. The album was released in-between the Erasure albums Nightbird and Union Street...
(SANCD382) #119 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, #12 US Top Electronic Albums - 2010: Non-Stop #134 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
, #12 UK Dance Album Chart
Singles
- 2005: "Crazy" #35 UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
, #3 US Hot Dance Club PlayHot Dance Club PlayThe Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs... - 2006: "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" #96 UKUK Albums ChartThe UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...
- 2009: "Running Out" (as Mimó)
- 2010: "Will You Be There?" (as Mimó) #27 US Hot Dance Club PlayHot Dance Club PlayThe Hot Dance Club Songs chart is a weekly national survey of the songs that are most popular in U.S. dance clubs...
- 2010: "Call on Me"
- 2010: "Non-Stop"