Bev Bevan is an English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...

 rock

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

, who was the drummer

Drummer

A drummer is a musician who is capable of playing drums, which includes but is not limited to a drum kit and accessory based hardware which includes an assortment of pedals and standing support mechanisms, marching percussion and/or any musical instrument that is struck within the context of a...

 and one of the original members of The Move

The Move

The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States....

 and Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

 (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II

ELO Part II

ELO Part II were an offshoot band formed by Electric Light Orchestra drummer Bev Bevan. The band also included former ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt, conductor Louis Clark and violinist Mik Kaminski for most of its career...

 without the original ELO singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

.

Bevan also served as the touring drummer for Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath

Black Sabbath are an English heavy metal band, formed in Aston, Birmingham in 1969 by Ozzy Osbourne , Tony Iommi , Geezer Butler , and Bill Ward . The band has since experienced multiple line-up changes, with Tony Iommi the only constant presence in the band through the years. A total of 22...

 from 1983-1984

Born Again Tour 1983

The Born Again Tour 1983 was a global concert tour by in support of Black Sabbath's Born Again album. Both the album and the tour were the only ones of Black Sabbath's to feature former Deep Purple frontman Ian Gillan on lead vocals...

, and played percussion on The Eternal Idol

The Eternal Idol

The Eternal Idol is the thirteenth studio album by Black Sabbath, released in December 1987. It is the first of several Black Sabbath albums to feature longtime vocalist Tony Martin. It spent six weeks on the Billboard 200 chart, peaking at 168. It was also the last full album of new material by...

album in 1987.

Biography

Bevan was born at Sparkhill

Sparkhill

Sparkhill is an inner-city area of Birmingham, England, situated between Springfield, Hall Green and Sparkbrook.-Etymology:Sparkhill takes its name from Spark Brook, a small stream that flows from Moseley to the River Cole in Small Heath. It was, as the name suggests, a hill that was situated...

, Birmingham

Birmingham

Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England. After education at Moseley Grammar School

Moseley School

Moseley School: A Language College is a large comprehensive school in the Moseley area of Birmingham, England. It has a predominantly male, Muslim student population...

 where he gained two O level

Ordinary Level

The O-level is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education . It was introduced as part of British educational reform in the 1950s alongside the more in-depth and academically rigorous Advanced Level in England, Wales and Northern Ireland A-level...

 passes, he worked as a trainee buyer in a city centre department store

Department store

A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

 called The Beehive with school friend Jasper Carrott

Jasper Carrott

Jasper Carrott OBE is a British comedian, actor, television presenter and personality.-Early life:...

. His professional music career started with a stint with Denny Laine

Denny Laine

Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

 in his group Denny Laine and the Diplomats, then with Carl Wayne

Carl Wayne

Carl Wayne was a British singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead vocalist of Birmingham rock group The Move during the 1960s.-Early days:...

 and The Vikings, followed by The Move in 1966. The Electric Light Orchestra released their first album in 1971, by which time The Move existed only as a recording outfit. They released their final single, "California Man

California Man (song)

California Man is a song by The Move.Released in 1972 as a maxi single with "Do Ya" and "Ella James" as a double B-side, this was The Move's last official single release. The Electric Light Orchestra, originally conceived as a side-project to The Move, issued its first single,10538 Overture, a...

" in 1972, and the subsequent successes of the Electric Light Orchestra, and the Roy Wood

Roy Wood

Roy Adrian Wood is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands.-Career:Wood...

 led Wizzard

Wizzard

Wizzard was a Birmingham-based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings were Paul McCartney."-Biography:...

, led to their being laid to rest.

Bevan has a deeply pitched singing voice

Human voice

The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...

. While with The Move he lent lead vocals to two tracks: a remake of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" is a 1934 popular song with words and music by James F. Hanley. It was introduced by Hal Le Roy and Eunice Healey in the Broadway revue Thumbs Up! Probably the most notable recordings were made by Judy Garland and by The Trammps "Zing! Went the Strings of My...

" and the country and western spoof

Parody

A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...

, "Ben Crawley Steel Co". He composed two Move songs: the rock-bluesTurkish Tram Conductor Blues from the album Looking On; and the Elvis Presley spoof Don't Mess Me Up, from the album Message from the Country. The latter song was the B-side of The Move's single Tonight.

In 1980 Bevan published a biography of the Electric Light Orchestra. He also made a solo single in 1976, a cover version

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 the Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson

Sandy Nelson is an American drummer. Nelson, one of the best-known rock drummers of the early 1960s, had several solo instrumental Top 40 hits and was a session drummer on many other well-known hits, and released over 30 albums.-Career:His first recording, with a band called The Renegades Sandy...

 instrumental

Instrumental

An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....

, "Let There Be Drums". Bevan played on all but one Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II albums (the exception being 2001's Zoom

Zoom (album)

Zoom is the twelfth and final studio album by Electric Light Orchestra, released on June 12, 2001 on Epic Records. The album was the band's first release of new material since Balance of Power, released in 1986. Upon release, the album charted at #34 in the UK Albums Chart and at #94 in the US...

which marked Lynne's return to recording under the ELO name, with only Richard Tandy

Richard Tandy

Richard Tandy , is best known as the keyboard player in the rock band, Electric Light Orchestra...

 present from previous band line-ups).

In 1983 he replaced Bill Ward from Black Sabbath for their Born Again tour. Bevan also appeared in two music videos ("Trashed

Trashed (Black Sabbath song)

"Trashed" is a single of the album Born Again, by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It is the first song of the album, and one of the first songs by the Gillan Sabbath lineup....

" and "Zero the Hero

Zero the Hero

"Zero the Hero" is a song on the album Born Again, by the heavy metal band Black Sabbath. It has become moderately popular amongst fans and is one of Ian Gillan's favourite songs....

").

After the death of Carl Wayne

Carl Wayne

Carl Wayne was a British singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead vocalist of Birmingham rock group The Move during the 1960s.-Early days:...

 in 2004, he formed a new band, Bev Bevan's Move, with Phil Tree and former ELO Part II colleagues Phil Bates

Phil Bates

Phil Bates has been a member of many notable bands including Trickster and Quill, and was the lead guitarist, songwriter and joint lead vocalist for ELO Part II from 1993 through to 1999....

 and Neil Lockwood, to play a set comprising mostly The Move classics on tour. Bates left in July 2007 to re-join ELO Part II, by then renamed to The Orchestra

The Orchestra

The Orchestra is a rock band formed by former members of the Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II. It is the continuation of ELO Part II following Bev Bevan's departure and selling of the rights to Jeff Lynne.-History:...

.

Bevan currently presents a radio show on BBC Radio West Midlands on Sunday afternoons. He also reviews records for the Midlands' Sunday Mercury

Sunday Mercury

Sunday Mercury is a Sunday tabloid published in Birmingham, UK, and owned by Trinity Mirror.The first editor was John Turner Fearon , who left the Dublin-based Freeman's Journal to take up the position...

and has a blog

Blog

A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

 on their website

Website

A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...

. It was announced at the Best of Broad Street

Broad Street, Birmingham

Broad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular nightspot in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded with the removal of the Inner Ring Road, Broad Street has been incorporated into...

 Awards on 17 January 2011 that Bevan would be honoured with a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars

Birmingham Walk of Stars

The Broad Street Walk of Stars is an installation on the pedestrian pavement on Broad Street, Birmingham, United Kingdom. It is of a similar style to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Hollywood, California...

.

Personal life

Bevan lives in rural Warwickshire

Warwickshire

Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...

 with his wife, Valerie, and their son, Adrian. He is a keen follower of Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...

, despite claims from at least one source that he is secretly a supporter of their local rivals

Black Country derby

The Black Country derby is most commonly the local derby between the English football teams West Bromwich Albion and Wolverhampton Wanderers. The term 'Black Country derby' can also be given to a match between either of these teams and Walsall F.C., though such matches are less common as a result...

 West Bromwich Albion

West Bromwich Albion F.C.

West Bromwich Albion Football Club, also known as West Brom, The Baggies, The Throstles, Albion or WBA, are an English Premier League association football club based in West Bromwich in the West Midlands...

.