Francis Dunnery

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Francis Dunnery (sometimes known as Frank); (born 25 December 1962, in Egremont, Cumbria, England) was a founding member of the 1980s band, It Bites. Although he started on drums, he later became the lead singer and guitarist of the group, and maintained this position until he left in 1990.

It Bites released three studio albums, The Big Lad in the Windmill (1986), Once Around the World (1988) and the critically acclaimed Eat Me in St Louis (1989). Their final album, the live swan song Thank You and Goodnight was released in 1990. It Bites' biggest hit single was "Calling All The Heroes" in 1986, which reached #6 in the UK Singles Chart.

Since leaving It Bites, Dunnery has operated as a solo artist, recording six studio albums and two live albums: Welcome to the Wild Country (1991), Fearless (1994), Tall Blonde Helicopter (1995), One Night in Sauchiehall Street (live) (1995), Let's Go Do What Happens (1998), Man (2001), Hometown (live) (2001) and The Gulley Flats Boys (2005). He has performed regularly in both the U.S. and the UK. His biggest solo hit single was "American Life in the Summertime".

Normally a Fender Stratocaster player, Dunnery is also the inventor of the guitar based instrument called the tapboard which used parts of a shower hose and an egg timer to produce its sounds.

After Phil Collins left Genesis, Dunnery was approached to join the band, but refused. The post was eventually filled by Ray Wilson, formerly of Stiltskin.

He has contributed backing vocals to Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe's eponymous album. He also rehearsed with The Syn for an abortive tour in 2005. He accompanied former Led Zeppelin singer Robert Plant on his "Fate of Nations" world tour in 1993-4.

Additionally, he has been recording studio sessions for Lauryn Hill, Elton John, and many others. These include Carlos Santana on his multi-platinum album Supernatural. Also, Dunnery co-wrote several tracks and played guitar on, aswell as producing Ian Brown's album Music of the Spheres.

He fronts his own record label called Aquarian Nation, which is part of a multi-media company formed in 2001 to "help support and promote artistic integrity". Artists affiliated with this label (including Francis himself) are Chris Difford, Dorie Jackson, John & Wayne (John Dunnery being Francis' nephew) and Stephen Harris(AKA Haggis and Kid Chaos), formerly of The Cult and Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction.

On the 30th August 2003 he was joined onstage, for the first time in 13 years, by his old It Bites band-mates Bob Dalton, Dick Nolan and John Beck, at the Union Chapel in London, during one of his solo gigs. Following this, it was announced that It Bites would be getting back together to write and record a new album followed by a tour. This never materialised due to Francis' hectic schedule back in the U.S.

It Bites eventually re-formed in 2006 with the help of John Mitchell (Frost, The Urbane, Kino), taking over the guitar and vocal parts. It Bites MKII toured the UK in November/December 2006, and are planning on releasing a new studio album sometime in 2007.

More recently, Francis has been playing a number of "house concerts" in the United States and Europe, where he literally plays in your living room!

When he's not playing music, his other interests include; astrology, training horses and Jungian Psychology.