Neil Finn
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Neil Finn | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Birth name | Neil Mullane Finn | |
| Born | May 27, 1958 | |
| Origin | Te Awamutu, New Zealand | |
| Genre(s) | Pop | |
| Years active | 1976-present | |
| Associated acts |
Split Enz Crowded House Finn Brothers |
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Neil Mullane Finn OBE (born May 27, 1958 in Te Awamutu, New Zealand) is a singer and songwriter and one of New Zealand's foremost musicians. He was the frontman of the bands Split Enz and Crowded House.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early Years / Split Enz
Neil attended school at Sacred Heart College and Te Awamutu College. He decided at the age of 12 to become a musician, and throughout his school years, performed in prisons, hospitals as well as at home gatherings.
Neil finished school in 1975. One year later, he formed a group known as After Hours (with Mark Hough, Geoff Chunn and Alan Brown). Not long after the debut performance of After Hours, Neil was invited to London to join Split Enz, the band formed by his elder brother, Tim Finn.
By 1980, Neil was sharing lead-singer's duties in Split Enz. He wrote their first international hit, "I Got You," and contributed significantly to all their later albums, even briefly assuming leadership of the band after Tim left in 1983.
[edit] The Mullanes / Crowded House
Split Enz broke up in 1984. Finn formed a new band called The Mullanes (Mullane being both his middle name and his mother's maiden name) with Split Enz drummer Paul Hester, guitarist Craig Hooper of The Reels and bassist Nick Seymour (younger brother of Hunters & Collectors leader Mark Seymour), whom Neil had met on the final Split Enz tour.
Hooper left just before they recorded their first album, at which time the band was renamed Crowded House — inspired by the rental home they shared while recording in Los Angeles.
Crowded House went on to enormous success worldwide, in particular with two major hits: "Don't Dream It's Over" (U.S. #2, 1987) and "Weather With You" (U.K. #7, 1992).
After releasing four albums, Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface, and Together Alone, the group broke up in 1996, and followed this action by releasing a greatest hits album Recurring Dream: The Very Best Of Crowded House. Following this, Neil went solo. Later the album Afterglow was released, which contained Crowded House tracks not previously found on any of the band's albums.
In January 2007, it was announced that Crowded House would reform with Neil, Nick Seymour, Mark Hart and new drummer Matt Sherrod (following the death of Paul Hester in 2005). A new album titled Time on Earth is set for release in 2007, and will be accompanied by a headlining show at Coachella in April 2007, then a world tour.
[edit] Solo years
Finn has recorded two solo albums to date: Try Whistling This (1998) and One Nil (2001). (One Nil was released in the US and Canada — remixed, reordered and renamed One All — in 2002.) In addition, he and brother Tim have collaborated on two Finn Brothers albums, Finn (1995) and Everyone Is Here (2004).
In 2001, he released a live album/DVD (7 Worlds Collide) consisting of songs recorded at St James Theatre in Auckland, New Zealand with the likes of Lisa Germano, Sebastian Steinberg (Soul Coughing), Ed O'Brien and Phil Selway (Radiohead), Johnny Marr (The Smiths), Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam), Paul Jeffrey, Tim Finn, and Betchadupa. Also in 2001, Finn was heavily involved in creating the soundtrack for the motion picture Rain.
The Dixie Chicks release Taking The Long Way has a song co-written with Finn, entitled "Silent House." Neil Finn was also featured as a backing vocalist on the Sheryl Crow song, "Everyday is a Winding Road" from her self-titled second album, released in 1997. Finn has also produced and recorded with various New Zealand acts such as Bic Runga, The Mutton Birds and Dave Dobbyn.
In February 2007, Neil Finn performed with his son Elroy and Jimmy Barnes at a charity benefit concert for cerebral palsy. The event was held at the Roxburgh Hall, Stowe School, Stowe in Buckinghamshire, UK. The benefit was in aid of he UK charity Scope, England's largest charity working for people living with cerebral palsy and their families.
Both Neil and his brother Tim were made OBE (Order of the British Empire) for services to New Zealand music in the 1993 Queen's Birthday Honours List.
[edit] Family
Neil married his wife, Sharon Dawn Johnson, on February 13, 1982. The song "I Love You Dawn," available on Afterglow (an album of unreleased Crowded House tracks and B-sides) was penned in her honour.
They have two sons, Liam Mullane (born 1983) and Elroy Timothy (born 1989). Both sons play various instruments, and often perform alongside their father on tour and in the recording studio. Liam now has his own band, Betchadupa, based out of London, UK.
Sharon Finn creates chandeliers in her workshop, Sharondelier, in Auckland. Numerous chandeliers designed by Sharon featured on stage in the 2004-5 tours promoting the Everyone Is Here album.
Sharon has appeared on backing vocals on various albums such as Crowded House and Alex Lloyd's Watching Angels Mend.
[edit] Neil Finn Solo Discography
| Cover | Date | Title | Label | Charted | Country | Catalog Number |
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1998 | Try Whistling This | EMI | - | - | 72434-95139-2-1 |
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2001 | One Nil | - | - | ||
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2002 | One All | - | - | ||
| Live Albums | ||||||
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2000 | Neil Finn: Sessions at West 54th | - | - | ||
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2001 | 7 Worlds Collide | - | - | ||
| DVDs | ||||||
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2000 | Neil Finn: Sessions at West 54th | - | - | ||
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2001 | 7 Worlds Collide | - | - | ||
| Year | Single | Album | Charted (UK) | Certification |
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| 1998 | "Sinner" | Try Whistling This | - | - |
| 1998 | "She Will Have Her Way" | Try Whistling This | 26 | - |
| 1999 | "I Can See Clearly Now" | - | - | |
| 2001 | "Rest Of The Day Off" | One Nil | - | - |
[edit] References
- Chunn, Mike, Stranger Than Fiction: The Life and Times of Split Enz, GP Publications, 1992. ISBN 1-86956-050-7
- Bourke, Chris, Something So Strong, Macmillan Australia, 1997, ISBN 0-7329-0886-8
- Twomey, Chris & Doole, Kerry, Crowded House: Private Universe, Omnibus Pr, 1998, ISBN 0-7119-4816-X
- Dix, John, Stranded in Paradise: New Zealand Rock and Roll, 1955 to the Modern Era, Penguin Books, 2005, ISBN 0-14-301953-8
