Marti Pellow
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marti Pellow | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Mark McLachlan | |
| Born | March 23, 1965 (age 42) | |
| Origin | Clydebank, Scotland | |
| Genre(s) | Pop Soul |
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| Occupation(s) | Singer Songwriter |
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| Instrument(s) | Vocals | |
| Years active | 1982 - Present | |
| Associated acts |
Wet Wet Wet Maggie Pie & The Impostors |
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| Website | MartiPellowOfficial.com | |
Marti Pellow (born Mark McLachlan on 23 March 1965 in Clydebank) is the lead singer of the Scottish pop group Wet Wet Wet. He has also achieved a successful solo career.
Pellow enjoyed success with Wet Wet Wet throughout the late 1980s and 1990s. However, in 1997 drummer Tommy Cunningham left the band and its success waned immediately. Pellow was by this time suffering from an addiction to heroin. He famously quoted, on finally beating the drug, "It was textbook. I couldn't function without it. But there's no romantic side to heroin - it's no good."[1]
On February 27, 1999, Pellow collapsed at the Conrad Hotel in London and was taken to Chelsea and Westminster Hospital for tests. He was released the same night.[2]
In May 1999, Pellow left Wet Wet Wet in order to embark on a solo career in association with Chris Difford of Squeeze.[3] November of that year saw Pellow begin his first solo tour. On 4 June 2001, he released "Close to You" from his debut solo album, Smile. A further single, "I've Been Around the World", was released that November; towards the end of the year he embarked on a seven-date tour (the Smile Tour) around Britain. In 2002, he hosted and sang in Girls' Night Out, one of a week of shows in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust, at the Royal Albert Hall. This led to him, in 2004, being offered the part of Billy Flynn, the lawyer in the musical Chicago in London's West End and, later, on Broadway.[4]
Also in 2002, Pellow released Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile, an 18-track compilation comprising three songs from the latter album.
In November 2003, he issued an album of cover versions, Between the Covers, the single from which was Neil Young's "A Lot of Love".
In 2004, Pellow's 66-year-old mother, Margaret McLachlan, died after a long battle with kidney disease.[5] Pellow's three ex-bandmates attended her funeral, a show of support that touched the grieving frontman. "I thought it was a powerful gesture," Pellow said. "Moments like that put things into perspective - it wasn't all about music, it was more about a kinship between us. I remember my mother once saying, 'Maybe Wet Wet Wet will get back together again one day.' She must have had a wee vision. I'd never closed the chapter on the band; I'd always left the door open."
At the end of June, the reformed band went to a secret location to record tracks for a new album and to prepare for a UK tour. At the tour's conclusion, Pellow took the opportunity to record, at his own expense, Moonlight Over Memphis with legendary soul producer Willie Mitchell (Al Green, Otis Clay, Anne Peebles, etc.), demonstrating a deep affinity with southern soul. The album was released in October 2006 on DMG TV, a label which has had some success previously with albums by such artists as Jane McDonald and Daniel O'Donnell. Pellow went on tour during October and November to support the album, with a helping hand from regular Wets contributor Graeme Duffin.
He won the prime-time BBC1 show Just the Two of Us, which began on January 2, 2007, partnering actress Hannah Waterman.
Contents |
[edit] Discography
[edit] Studio albums
[edit] Cover albums
 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Song |  UK |
 IRE |
Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | "Close to You" | 9 | - | Smile |
| 2001 | "I've Been Around the World" | 28 | - | Smile |
| 2003 | "A Lot of Love" | 59 | - | Between the Covers |
| 2006 | "Come Back Home" | - | - | Moonlight Over Memphis |
[edit] Trivia
- Pellow has been in a long-term relationship with his now-fiancée, former "Miss Scotland" Eileen Caterson.[6][7]
- Pellow placed sixth in a 2003 Glasgow Herald poll to determine "The Most Scottish Person in the World".
- Supports Rangers.[citation needed]
[edit] References
- ^ http://www.contactmusic.com/new/xmlfeed.nsf/mndwebpages/pellow%20shocked%20at%20the%20depth%20of%20his%20heroin%20abuse
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/288060.stm
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/340814.stm
- ^ http://www.webma.nl/martipellow8m/news/wets.html
- ^ http://www.webma.nl/martipellow8m/news/wets.html
- ^ http://living.scotsman.com/index.cfm?id=1539892006
- ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/288060.stm
[edit] External links
| Wet Wet Wet |
| Marti Pellow - Tommy Cunningham - Graeme Clark - Neil Mitchell |
| Other musicians: Graeme Duffin |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Popped In Souled Out - The Memphis Sessions - Holding Back the River - High on the Happy Side - Cloak & Dagger - Picture This - 10 |
| Singles: See here |
| Live albums: Wet Wet Wet: Live - Live at the Royal Albert Hall |
| Compilations: End of Part One - The Greatest Hits |
| Videos: Video Singles - Live Glasgow Green Free Concert - High on the Happy Side - The Wets at the Castle - Live at the Royal Albert Hall - End of Part One - Picture This: All Around and in the Crowd - Playing Away at Home - The Greatest Hits and More |
| Marti Pellow |
| Marti Pellow |
| Other musicians: Graeme Duffin |
| Discography |
| Studio albums: Smile · Moonlight Over Memphis |
| Cover albums: Marti Pellow Sings the Hits of Wet Wet Wet & Smile · Between the Covers |
| Singles: "Close to You" · "I've Been Around the World" · "A Lot of Love" · "Come Back Home" |
| Related articles |
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| Wet Wet Wet |
