Tony Hadley
Encyclopedia
Tony Hadley is an English
pop
singer-songwriter
, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet
.
in the Hampstead
area of Inner London
. Originally intending to pursue a medical career, he decided to join friends in their band.
album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True
and Parade
. In fact, Heart Like a Sky was not even released in the United States. In April 1999, Hadley along with fellow band members Steve Norman
and John Keeble
failed in their attempt to sue Gary Kemp
for a share of his royalties
, as the band's principal songwriter
. However, in recent years Norman is again on good terms with Gary and his brother, Martin Kemp, who used to play bass guitar
in the band. In early 2009, newspaper reports claimed that Spandau Ballet was set to reform later that year. On 25 March 2009 it was confirmed that the band had reformed and were embarking on a tour of the UK and Ireland in October 2009.
and recording his first album, The State of Play, in 1992. After leaving EMI, Hadley formed his own record company, SlipStream Records, and his first release was to be the single
"Build Me Up", from the film "When Saturday Comes
". Shortly after that, in December 1996, Hadley embarked on an orchestral tour of Europe, along with Joe Cocker
, Paul Michiels
, Dani Klein
and Guo Yue
, playing to 500,000 concertgoers in six weeks.
On his return from that tour, Hadley signed a joint deal with PolyGram
TV, and released his next eponymous solo album
, Tony Hadley, in 1997, which included covers
and songs that were chosen to match his voice. The album also featured some of his own self-penned songs, such as "She", which he wrote for daughter Toni.
To plug the gap between studio albums, Hadley also released Obsession (later re-released as Obsession Live, a live album
recorded, in just one night, in 1995, at the club Ronnie Scott's
, in Birmingham
.
He also collaborated, in the past and present, with various dance acts and DJs
, such as Tin Tin Out
, Eddie Lock, Marc et Claude, Regi Penxten (Milk Inc.
) and the Disco Bros, and played alongside people such as Alice Cooper
, Paul Young
, Jon Anderson
, and Brian May
. Hadley's permanent band line up nowadays features John Keeble
(drum
s), Phil Taylor (keyboards
), Phil Williams (bass guitar
), Richie Barrett (guitar
), and Dawn Joseph on backing vocals. His early band, with whom he realized his debut album, included instead, besides himself and Keeble, Spandau Ballet's regular keyboard player, Toby Chapman, Jerry Stevenson
(guitar), and Kevin Miller (bass guitar).
Hadley was also the subject of some newfound respect in the 2000s, rooted in an "ironic" appreciation for his old group Spandau Ballet
; John Darnielle
of the indie folk rock
group The Mountain Goats
wrote about his admiration for Hadley's vocal strengths. In 2000, his solo
greatest hits album was issued, entitled Debut, made up of some early solo songs.
In 2003, Hadley was the winner of the ITV
reality television
series, Reborn in the USA
, appearing alongside other singers, such as Elkie Brooks
, Peter Cox
from Go West
and Leee John
from Imagination
. Capitalizing on his victory of the American reality show, his Debut compilation was re-issued, and his second collection was also released in the same year, True Ballads, including some of his solo tracks, most of the cover songs
which were already contained in his second studio album
, and historical hits from the Spandau Ballet
period.
Hadley has continued with a busy performing schedule, and also toured with both Peter Cox from Go West and Martin Fry
from the band ABC
. He released a jazz
-swing
album 2006, entitled Passing Strangers, and travelled on a "by request" tour from March to May 2006. This was followed by a big band
tour in late the same year.
In January 2007, Hadley performed in the West End
musical
Chicago
as crooked lawyer Billy Flynn, at the Cambridge Theatre
. Hadley took over from ex-Emmerdale
actor
Ian Kelsey
, and featured from 29 January to 14 April 2007. He said: "Three months was long enough, I didn't want to out-stay my welcome. I got a phone call offering me the part. I went to see the show, which I thought was great. While I was in it, I got great reviews. Chicago tied in with my swing album, Passing Strangers, so the whole thing worked well."
Hadley performed a set with other 1980s acts, at Retro Fest, on 1 September 2007, at Culzean Castle
, in Ayrshire
, Scotland
. This appearance included a rendition of "Addicted to Love
", with Martin Fry
of ABC
and Peter Cox of Go West
.
In February 2008, he took part in the Italian
Sanremo Festival, where he dueted in both English
and Italian
with contestant Paolo Meneguzzi on Meneguzzi's song, "Grande" ('Big'), during the third day of the contest (where all contestants re-interpreted their songs with guest artists). On 22 February 2008, he performed as an interval act at the semi-final of Dora 2008, the selection of the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest
.
In 2011 he collaborated with the Italian rapper Caparezza
for the song "Goodbye Malinconia": as Caparezza said to Radio Deejay (an Italian radio station), Hadley was very happy to work with him and not merely sang his part but wrote some additional lyrics.
, taking over the "Friday Night Virgin Party Classics" show from Suggs
(of the band Madness
), in August 2007. In January 2008, he was given the Saturday Night Virgin Party Classics show as well. He left both shows in September 2008.
Hadley appeared, sang and gave advice in Pinoy Dream Academy
, a singing reality show in the Philippines. He also appeared in RocKwiz
, an Australian TV programme that aired in November 2008.
Hadley has also shot his scenes for the forthcoming British short movie Shoot The DJ, in which he plays Eddie Richards. The film also featured Hadley's daughter, Toni.
. Hadley split from Leonie in 2003, after twenty years of marriage.
Hadley is also an Arsenal
fan and plays for the Arsenal ex-Professional and Celebrity XI team. Hadley also runs and enjoys skiing
. He lives in Muswell Hill
, and is a regular act in The East Festival.
Hadley stated on the television show Loose Women
(22 February 2007) that he is 6'4" (1,93m) and 17½ stone (111 kg).
Hadley is patron of the UK Huntington's Disease
Association.
and an admirer of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Margaret Thatcher
. He has said:
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...
pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
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...
, occasional stage actor and radio presenter who gained celebrity as the lead vocalist for the 1980s band Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
.
Early life
Anthony Patrick Hadley, the eldest of three children (he has a sister, Lee, and a brother, Steve) was born at Royal Free HospitalRoyal Free Hospital
The Royal Free Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Hampstead, London, England and part of the Royal Free Hampstead NHS Trust....
in the Hampstead
Hampstead
Hampstead is an area of London, England, north-west of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Camden in Inner London, it is known for its intellectual, liberal, artistic, musical and literary associations and for Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland...
area of Inner London
Inner London
Inner London is the name for the group of London boroughs which form the interior part of Greater London and are surrounded by Outer London. The area was first officially defined in 1965 and for purposes such as statistics, the definition has changed over time. The terms Inner London and Central...
. Originally intending to pursue a medical career, he decided to join friends in their band.
Spandau Ballet
The group disbanded in 1989, after their final studioRecording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True
True (Spandau Ballet album)
-2003 re-release:"True" was re-released in 2003 as a 20th anniversary edition. It was re-released as a single CD with the original eight tracks along with the music video for "Gold" and some Home Video Footage of the band...
and Parade
Parade (Spandau Ballet album)
-Chart placings:AlbumSinglesBillboard...
. In fact, Heart Like a Sky was not even released in the United States. In April 1999, Hadley along with fellow band members Steve Norman
Steve Norman
Steve Norman is an English musician who plays saxophone, guitar, percussion, and other instruments, for Spandau Ballet.-Early career:Steve Norman was initially a guitarist in the group with Gary Kemp...
and John Keeble
John Keeble
John Keeble is a British pop musician, who is the drummer with the 1980s band, Spandau Ballet.Spandau Ballet disbanded in 1990, after their final studio album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True and Parade.In 1999, John...
failed in their attempt to sue Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp
Gary Kemp is an English pop musician and actor who is the guitar player and chief songwriter for the 1980s Synthpop band Spandau Ballet. His brother, Martin Kemp, plays bass guitar in the band...
for a share of his royalties
Royalties
Royalties are usage-based payments made by one party to another for the right to ongoing use of an asset, sometimes an intellectual property...
, as the band's principal songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
. However, in recent years Norman is again on good terms with Gary and his brother, Martin Kemp, who used to play bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
in the band. In early 2009, newspaper reports claimed that Spandau Ballet was set to reform later that year. On 25 March 2009 it was confirmed that the band had reformed and were embarking on a tour of the UK and Ireland in October 2009.
Solo career
After Spandau Ballet disbanded, Hadley pursued a solo career, signing to EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
and recording his first album, The State of Play, in 1992. After leaving EMI, Hadley formed his own record company, SlipStream Records, and his first release was to be the single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"Build Me Up", from the film "When Saturday Comes
When Saturday Comes (film)
When Saturday Comes is a British film from 1996 starring Sean Bean and Emily Lloyd, directed by Maria Giese. It is about a factory worker who gets scouted, firstly by the well-known non-league side Hallam F.C. and then later by Sheffield United Football Club...
". Shortly after that, in December 1996, Hadley embarked on an orchestral tour of Europe, along with Joe Cocker
Joe Cocker
John Robert "Joe" Cocker, OBE is an English rock and blues musician, composer and actor, who came to popularity in the 1960s, and is most known for his gritty voice, his idiosyncratic arm movements while performing, and his cover versions of popular songs, particularly those of The Beatles...
, Paul Michiels
Paul Michiels
Paul Michiels is a Belgian singer and songwriter who became popular for his work with the Belgian music group Soulsister. He has earned the nickname Polle Pap, a name he inherited from a childhood job as a milkman in his hometown of Heist-op-den-Berg, where he was born.Paul started out with a...
, Dani Klein
Dani Klein
Danielle Schoovaerts , known as Dani Klein, is a Belgian singer and member of the band Vaya Con Dios.In the 1980s, she was also a member of Arbeid Adelt! with Luc Van Acker , Ladies sing the Blues with Réjane Magloire and Beverly Jo Scott, Purple Prose and Steelover with Rudy Lenners.-External...
and Guo Yue
Guo Yue (musician)
Guo Yue is a renowned virtuoso of the dizi and bawu . He was born in Beijing, China and as a young boy experienced the Cultural Revolution. In 1982 Yue left China and, with the help of his third sister Yan who was living in England, he studied the silver flute at the Guildhall School of Music...
, playing to 500,000 concertgoers in six weeks.
On his return from that tour, Hadley signed a joint deal with PolyGram
PolyGram
PolyGram was the name of the major label recording company started by Philips from as a holding company for its music interests in 1945. In 1999 it was sold to Seagram and merged into Universal Music Group.-Hollandsche Decca Distributie , 1929-1950:...
TV, and released his next eponymous solo album
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
, Tony Hadley, in 1997, which included covers
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...
and songs that were chosen to match his voice. The album also featured some of his own self-penned songs, such as "She", which he wrote for daughter Toni.
To plug the gap between studio albums, Hadley also released Obsession (later re-released as Obsession Live, a live album
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
recorded, in just one night, in 1995, at the club Ronnie Scott's
Ronnie Scott
Ronnie Scott was an English jazz tenor saxophonist and jazz club owner.-Life and career:Ronnie Scott was born in Aldgate, east London, into a family of Russian Jewish descent on his father's side, and Portuguese antecedents on his mother's. Scott began playing in small jazz clubs at the age of...
, in 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...
.
He also collaborated, in the past and present, with various dance acts and DJs
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
, such as Tin Tin Out
Tin Tin Out
Tin Tin Out is a UK electronic dance music duo comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards.-Career:They are well known as active remixers, working on increasingly higher-profile songs as the 1990s progressed, however also have their own recording careers...
, Eddie Lock, Marc et Claude, Regi Penxten (Milk Inc.
Milk Inc.
Milk Inc. is a Euro House band that formed in the commercial house-scene in Belgium in 1996. The Discography of the band includes a total of six studio albums and thirty-four singles In 2006, to celebrate their 10th anniversary, Milk Inc...
) and the Disco Bros, and played alongside people such as Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper
Alice Cooper is an American rock singer, songwriter and musician whose career spans more than four decades...
, Paul Young
Paul Young (singer and guitarist)
Paul Antony Young is an English pop musician. Formerly the frontman of the short-lived bands Kat Kool & The Kool Cats, Streetband and Q-Tips, his following solo success as a solo recording artist turned him into a 1980s teenage pop idol...
, Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson
Jon Anderson is an English singer-songwriter and musician best known as the former lead vocalist in the progressive rock band Yes...
, and Brian May
Brian May
Brian Harold May, CBE is an English musician and astrophysicist most widely known as the guitarist and a songwriter of the rock band Queen...
. Hadley's permanent band line up nowadays features John Keeble
John Keeble
John Keeble is a British pop musician, who is the drummer with the 1980s band, Spandau Ballet.Spandau Ballet disbanded in 1990, after their final studio album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True and Parade.In 1999, John...
(drum
Drum
The drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s), Phil Taylor (keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
), Phil Williams (bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
), Richie Barrett (guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
), and Dawn Joseph on backing vocals. His early band, with whom he realized his debut album, included instead, besides himself and Keeble, Spandau Ballet's regular keyboard player, Toby Chapman, Jerry Stevenson
Jerry Stevenson
Jerry Stevenson, is a guitar and mandolin player who has worked with Barbara Dickson, Procol Harum and is currently a member of Be Sharp.In 1991 Procol Harum re-formed and began recording a new album called The Prodigal Stranger...
(guitar), and Kevin Miller (bass guitar).
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
; John Darnielle
John Darnielle
John Darnielle is an American musician, best known as the primary member of the American band The Mountain Goats, for which he is the writer, composer, guitarist, and vocalist.-Places Darnielle has lived:...
of the indie folk rock
Folk rock
Folk rock is a musical genre combining elements of folk music and rock music. In its earliest and narrowest sense, the term referred to a genre that arose in the United States and the UK around the mid-1960s...
group The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats
The Mountain Goats is an American indie rock band formed in Claremont, CA by singer-songwriter John Darnielle. For many years, the sole member of the Mountain Goats was Darnielle himself, despite the plural moniker....
wrote about his admiration for Hadley's vocal strengths. In 2000, his solo
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
greatest hits album was issued, entitled Debut, made up of some early solo songs.
In 2003, Hadley was the winner of the 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...
reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
series, Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA
Reborn in the USA was a 2003 ITV reality TV show, in which ten former British pop acts were transported to the USA, where they were supposedly not known , in the...
, appearing alongside other singers, such as Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks
Elkie Brooks is an English singer, formerly a vocalist with Vinegar Joe, and later a solo artist. Elkie has been nominated twice for Brit Awards' top female singer. She is known for her powerful husky voice...
, Peter Cox
Peter Cox (musician)
Peter John Cox is an English singer-songwriter, currently the lead singer in Manfred Mann's Earth Band, but is best known as one half of the 1980s blue-eyed soul duo Go West.-Early career and Go West:...
from Go West
Go West (band)
Go West is an English pop duo, formed in 1982 by lead vocalist and drummer Peter Cox ; and guitarist and vocalist Richard Drummie...
and Leee John
Leee John
Leee John of St Lucian descent, is a British musician and actor. He was educated in New York, later studying drama at the Anna Scher Theatre School.-Career:...
from Imagination
Imagination (band)
Imagination were a three piece British soul and funk band, who came to prominence in the early 1980s. They had chart hits in 28 countries, earning four platinum discs, nine gold discs and more than a dozen silver discs around the world between 1981 and 1983....
. Capitalizing on his victory of the American reality show, his Debut compilation was re-issued, and his second collection was also released in the same year, True Ballads, including some of his solo tracks, most of the cover songs
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...
which were already contained in his second studio album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
, and historical hits from the Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet
Spandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
period.
Hadley has continued with a busy performing schedule, and also toured with both Peter Cox from Go West and Martin Fry
Martin Fry
Martin Fry is lead singer of the band, ABC.-Biography:He grew up in Bramhall, Stockport, alongside his younger brother Jamie .-ABC:...
from the band ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...
. He released a jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
-swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
album 2006, entitled Passing Strangers, and travelled on a "by request" tour from March to May 2006. This was followed by a big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
tour in late the same year.
In January 2007, Hadley performed in the West End
West End theatre
West End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Chicago
Chicago (musical)
Chicago is a musical set in Prohibition-era Chicago. The music is by John Kander with lyrics by Fred Ebb and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the "celebrity criminal"...
as crooked lawyer Billy Flynn, at the Cambridge Theatre
Cambridge Theatre
The Cambridge Theatre is a West End theatre, on a corner site in Earlham Street facing Seven Dials, in the London Borough of Camden, built in 1929-30. It was designed by Wimperis, Simpson and Guthrie; interior partly by Serge Chermayeff, with interior bronze friezes by sculptor Anthony Gibbons...
. Hadley took over from ex-Emmerdale
Emmerdale
Emmerdale, is a long-running British soap opera set in Emmerdale , a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin Laffan, Emmerdale was first broadcast on 16 October 1972...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Ian Kelsey
Ian Kelsey
Ian Kelsey is a British television actor.Kelsey was born in York, Yorkshire, England, to parents Julie and John . He also has an older brother named David. He trained at the Joseph Rowntree Theatre York and graduated at the Guildford School of Acting...
, and featured from 29 January to 14 April 2007. He said: "Three months was long enough, I didn't want to out-stay my welcome. I got a phone call offering me the part. I went to see the show, which I thought was great. While I was in it, I got great reviews. Chicago tied in with my swing album, Passing Strangers, so the whole thing worked well."
Hadley performed a set with other 1980s acts, at Retro Fest, on 1 September 2007, at Culzean Castle
Culzean Castle
Culzean Castle is a castle near Maybole, Carrick, on the Ayrshire coast of Scotland. It is the former home of the Marquess of Ailsa but is now owned by the National Trust for Scotland...
, in Ayrshire
Ayrshire
Ayrshire is a registration county, and former administrative county in south-west Scotland, United Kingdom, located on the shores of the Firth of Clyde. Its principal towns include Ayr, Kilmarnock and Irvine. The town of Troon on the coast has hosted the British Open Golf Championship twice in the...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. This appearance included a rendition of "Addicted to Love
Addicted to Love (song)
Tina Turner has made "Addicted to Love" a regular feature of her live shows since 1986, although her version did not make it onto the market until two years later....
", with Martin Fry
Martin Fry
Martin Fry is lead singer of the band, ABC.-Biography:He grew up in Bramhall, Stockport, alongside his younger brother Jamie .-ABC:...
of ABC
ABC (band)
ABC are an English band, that charted ten UK and five US Top 40 singles between 1981 and 1990. The band continues to tour and released a new album, Traffic, in 2008.-Formation:...
and Peter Cox of Go West
Go West (band)
Go West is an English pop duo, formed in 1982 by lead vocalist and drummer Peter Cox ; and guitarist and vocalist Richard Drummie...
.
In February 2008, he took part in the Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Sanremo Festival, where he dueted in both English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
and Italian
Italian language
Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
with contestant Paolo Meneguzzi on Meneguzzi's song, "Grande" ('Big'), during the third day of the contest (where all contestants re-interpreted their songs with guest artists). On 22 February 2008, he performed as an interval act at the semi-final of Dora 2008, the selection of the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest
Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual competition held among active member countries of the European Broadcasting Union .Each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition...
.
In 2011 he collaborated with the Italian rapper Caparezza
Caparezza
Caparezza , pseudonym of Michele Salvemini, born 9 October 1973) is an Italian rapper. Born in Molfetta, Apulia, Caparezza debuted in 1997 at the Sanremo Festival under the name "MikiMix".-Biography and music:...
for the song "Goodbye Malinconia": as Caparezza said to Radio Deejay (an Italian radio station), Hadley was very happy to work with him and not merely sang his part but wrote some additional lyrics.
Other work
Hadley worked as a radio presenter with Virgin RadioVirgin Radio
Absolute Radio is one of the UK's three Independent National Radio stations. The station rebranded to its current name at 7.45am on 29 September 2008.The station is based in London and plays popular rock music...
, taking over the "Friday Night Virgin Party Classics" show from Suggs
Suggs (singer)
Graham McPherson , better known as Suggs, is an English singer, actor, former radio DJ, TV personality, and most famous as the frontman of the band Madness.-Early life:...
(of the band Madness
Madness (band)
In 1979, the band recorded the Lee Thompson composition "The Prince". The song, like the band's name, paid homage to their idol, Prince Buster. The song was released through 2 Tone Records, the label of The Specials founder Jerry Dammers. The song was a surprise hit, peaking in the UK music charts...
), in August 2007. In January 2008, he was given the Saturday Night Virgin Party Classics show as well. He left both shows in September 2008.
Hadley appeared, sang and gave advice in Pinoy Dream Academy
Pinoy Dream Academy (season 2)
Pinoy Dream Academy is a Philippine television program similar to Big Brother. The second season began on June 14, 2008. Nikki Gil and Toni Gonzaga reprised their roles as hosts of the show, but Gonzaga now handled the main hosting plum while Gil appeared both on the Probation Nights and Little...
, a singing reality show in the Philippines. He also appeared in RocKwiz
RocKwiz
RocKwiz is an Australian television quiz show series, focused on rock music, and broadcast on SBS One. It premiered in 2005.-Summary:The forty minute program airs on Saturday at 9:20 pm, and is hosted by Julia Zemiro. It is shot in The Gershwin Room at St Kilda's Esplanade Hotel, commonly...
, an Australian TV programme that aired in November 2008.
Hadley has also shot his scenes for the forthcoming British short movie Shoot The DJ, in which he plays Eddie Richards. The film also featured Hadley's daughter, Toni.
Personal life
Hadley is the father of four children: Thomas, Toni, and Maximilian by his first wife, Leonie Lawson, and Zara (born 21 December 2006) by Alison Evers, whom he married in July 2009 at Cliveden House, BerkshireBerkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
. Hadley split from Leonie in 2003, after twenty years of marriage.
Hadley is also an Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...
fan and plays for the Arsenal ex-Professional and Celebrity XI team. Hadley also runs and enjoys skiing
Skiing
Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....
. He lives in Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill
Muswell Hill is a suburb of north London, mostly in the London Borough of Haringey. It is situated about north of Charing Cross and around from the City of London. Muswell Hill is in the N10 postal district and mostly in the Hornsey and Wood Green parliamentary constituency.- History :The...
, and is a regular act in The East Festival.
Hadley stated on the television show Loose Women
Loose Women
Loose Women is a British lunchtime television programme, first broadcast in 1999 on ITV. It consists of a panel of four women who interview celebrities and discuss topical issues, ranging from daily politics and current affairs, to celebrity gossip...
(22 February 2007) that he is 6'4" (1,93m) and 17½ stone (111 kg).
Hadley is patron of the UK Huntington's Disease
Huntington's disease
Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...
Association.
Political affiliations
Hadley is a supporter of the Conservative PartyConservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
and an admirer of former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Thatcher
Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher, was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990...
. He has said:
“The fabric of society is torn. I walked through Blackpool and there were gangs walking the back streets and 16-year-old pregnant women everywhere. What we need is for David CameronDavid CameronDavid William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
to be like Thatcher, to say, "Enough is enough, things have gone too far". Five-year mandatory sentences for carrying a knife and 10 years for carrying a gun. We will build however many prisons we need.”
Studio albums
- 1992 - First studio album: The State of Play (debut album)
- 1997 - Second studio album: Tony Hadley (cover albumCover Album-Tracklisting:#Misono to Utaou! Animedley I # #...
, (also including some self-penned songs)) - 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...
number 45 - 2006 - Third studio album: Passing Strangers (jazzJazzJazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
/swing double album)
Live albums
- 2000 - First live album: Obsession (subsequently re-issued as Obsession Live)
Compilation albums
- 2000 - First greatest hits collection: Debut (with early solo tracks, as performed liveLive MusicLive Music is a reggaeton company owned by DJ Giann.-Artists:* Jowell & Randy* Tony Lenta* Watussi* De La Ghetto* Guelo Star* Galante "El Emperador"-Producers:*DJ Blass*Dexter*Mr. Greenz*DJ Giann*Los Hitmen*Dirty Joe*ALX...
on GermanGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
TV in 1992) - 2003 - Second greatest hits collection: True Ballads (including solo tracks, cover songsCover versionIn 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...
, and Spandau BalletSpandau BalletSpandau Ballet are a British band formed in London in the late 1970s. Initially inspired by, and an integral part of, the New Romantic fashion, their music has featured a mixture of funk, jazz, soul and synthpop. They were one of the most successful bands of the 1980s, achieving ten Top Ten singles...
's classic hits) - 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...
number 31
Singles
- 1992 - "Lost in Your Love" / "Why Can't We Fall in Love" / "Theme No. 7" - 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 ...
number 42 - 1992 - "For Your Blue Eyes Only" / "Tonight" / "Close-up" - UK number 67
- 1992 - "The Game of Love" / "Fever" (acoustic version) / "On and On" - UK number 72
- 1993 - "Absolution" / "Through the Barricades" / "The Boys of Summer" / "Rock'n'Roll Suicide"
- 1996 - "Build Me Up" / "One to One" / "Jealous Mind" / "Build Me Up" (instrumental) [soundtrack for the filmFilmA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
When Saturday ComesWhen Saturday Comes (film)When Saturday Comes is a British film from 1996 starring Sean Bean and Emily Lloyd, directed by Maria Giese. It is about a factory worker who gets scouted, firstly by the well-known non-league side Hallam F.C. and then later by Sheffield United Football Club...
] - 1997 - "Dance with Me" (Tin Tin OutTin Tin OutTin Tin Out is a UK electronic dance music duo comprising Darren Stokes and Lindsay Edwards.-Career:They are well known as active remixers, working on increasingly higher-profile songs as the 1990s progressed, however also have their own recording careers...
featuring Tony Hadley) - UK number 35 - 1998 - "First of May" (radio edit)/ "The First Cut Is the Deepest" / "Love Affair" / "Maybe You and I" [withdrawn release]
- 1998 - "Save a Prayer" (radio edit) / "She" / "Have You Seen Her" / "Save a Prayer" (album version) [only released in BelgiumBelgiumBelgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
in early April] - 1998 - "Dance with Me" / "She" [only released in the NetherlandsNetherlandsThe Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
on 16 February] - 1998 - "Dance with Me" (radio edit) [only released in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
] - 1999 - "Dance with Me" (radio edit mix)/(extended mix)/(angels of love break) [remix CD singleCD singleA CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
only released in ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
] - 2000 - "Will U Take Me" (single mix)/(Tony Hadley's a cappella)/(DJ Wout's level mix) [techno version only released in BeneluxBeneluxThe Benelux is an economic union in Western Europe comprising three neighbouring countries, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. These countries are located in northwestern Europe between France and Germany...
in November] - 2000 - "Will U Take Me" (single mix)/(extended mix)/(DJ Wout's level mix)/(Tony Hadley's a cappella) [techno version only released in SpainSpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
in November] - 2001 - "Tony Hadley EP": "Get So Lonely", "Beautiful Girl", "Follow Me", "Have I the Right" [released on 17 September]
- 2002 - "Sweet Surrender" (Milk Inc. radio remix) / (Mr. Sam remixes) [released in May]
- 2006 - "The Mood I'm In" [promo released in November]
- 2007 - "Wives & Lovers" [released in January]
- 2007 - "The Good Life" [released in April]
- 2011 - "Goodbye Malinconia" (ft. CapaRezzaCaparezzaCaparezza , pseudonym of Michele Salvemini, born 9 October 1973) is an Italian rapper. Born in Molfetta, Apulia, Caparezza debuted in 1997 at the Sanremo Festival under the name "MikiMix".-Biography and music:...
)