Robert Hart (musician)
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This biographical article or section is written like a résumé. Please help improve it by revising it to be neutral and encyclopedic. (March 2008) |
| Robert Hart | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Robert Hart |
| Born | 1 November 1958 |
| Genre(s) | rock music |
| Occupation(s) | singer songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | vocals |
| Voice type(s) | rock |
| Years active | 1980s - present |
| Label(s) | Island, Atlantic, Hollwood Records |
| Associated acts | Distance, Bad Company, The Jones Gang |
| Website | Jones Gang U.S Site |
| Members | |
| Robert Hart, Kenney Jones, Rick Wills | |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| voice | |
Robert Hart (1 November 1958) is an English rock vocalist and successful songwriter. He has performed as a solo artist, and with such groups as Bad Company and The Distance and former Whitesnake members in the band called Company of Snakes. He is currently fronting The Jones Gang, a rock group formed by rock veteran Kenney Jones.
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[edit] Biography
Born and raised in Bournemouth, Robert’s sporting ability was good enough to persuade legendary Leeds United manager, Don Revie, to make a special trip to the south coast to sign the 15-year-old for the Yorkshire club.
However, life as an apprentice soon made Robert realise he ought to make more of his musical talents, and he returned home after just a month.
Music had always been a big part of Robert’s life and his father sang on a semi-professional basis with various bands. The influence of greats such as Otis Redding and Sam Cook also helped shape Robert’s own singing style in his childhood days.
His passion for music soon led to him singing regularly and his song-writing ability ensured that he was destined for a life in the industry.
Robert’s ability as a singer and writer has earned him respect and acclaim throughout the industry and his diverse talents have seen him write and produce albums, front a legendary rock band, write the soundtrack for a major Hollywood movie and have triple platinum record success in Denmark and Sweden.
Chris Blackwell signed Robert to his Island Music record label in the 1980’s and teamed him with the great bassist and composer Bernard Edwards. The two men produced a formidable partnership and collaborated on several projects, including the soundtrack for the Whoopie Goldberg film, The Burglar.
The Distance gained success in a worldwide market with particularly high sales in Japan. After leaving the band Robert moved to Atlantic Records as a solo artist, with Stewart Levine producing his first album, Cries and Whispers.
He then became the first English artist to be signed by Disney-owned Hollywood Records, and worked with Russ Ballard on Robert’s self-titled album, Robert Hart, which charted in more than 18 countries.
It was while touring following the release of the album that Robert was approached by Mick Ralphs of Bad Company and asked whether he would be interested in fronting the band. Ralphs had been eager to work with Robert for some time and for the next four years Robert toured extensively with them. He also co-wrote two of the band’s albums, Company of Strangers and Stories Told and Untold.
Over the years Robert has also been involved in projects with Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, German superstar, Peter Maffay, members of Chic and Go West. The recent platinum success in Denmark and Sweden has come from his "Pop Stars" record, "The Best Is Still Yet To Come", performed by the group IQ.
His association with Kenney Jones came via Boz Burrell, who played with Robert in Bad Company, and had first hand experience when it came to the quality of the singer’s voice.
Kenney insists Robert is one of the best singers in the business. “He’s got one of the most amazing voices I’ve ever heard,” he says. “I’ve been in bands with the likes of Steve Marriott, Rod Stewart, Roger Daltrey and Paul Rodgers and Robert has a voice right up there with them.”
[edit] Bad Company
Hart's biggest exposure came in 1995 when he became the third lead vocalist for Bad Company, following Paul Rodgers and Brian Howe. Hart debuted on the album Company of Strangers as both the lead vocalist and co-writer. Company of Strangers was well-received and another album Stories Told & Untold was released the following year. Hart left the band in 1999 when Paul Rodgers rejoined the band for a reunion tour.
[edit] The Jones Gang
Since this success Hart has gone from strength to strength as both a songwriter and front man/vocals with the Jones Gang, his new band consisting of a trio a rock royalty including Robert Hart(Bad Company, The Distance) Kenney Jones (Small Faces, Faces, Who) Rick Wills (Foreigner, Bad Company). Robert formed the trio with Kenney later in 2001 after leaving Bad Company as a 'fun' project charity band. Hart wrote a charity song titled "It's All About The Children" for which Robert and Kenney got a few old friends together to play on the record. They included: Paul Young, Gary Granger, Ronnie Wood, and Rick Wills. It was from this Wills was to join Hart and Jones to complete the Trio. The Band recorded an album titled Any Day Now which Hart co-wrote all of the tracks and sole wrote most of the tracks. The album was released in the U.S on the 9th August 2005. The Trio were just having fun which was why it was a bit of a surprise when the album received the reaction it got. The debut single "Angel" written by Hart, and Russ Ballard [1] skyrocketed to number 1 on the billboard charts and stayed there for a further 11 weeks. In total it was in the U.S charts for 28 weeks, something that had not been done for over a decade. The second single "Gypsy" was also well received and again also spent many weeks at no.1 in the U.S. billboard charts. In recent press interviews the trio have said the albums name Any Day Now is a stab at the record company, who would reply this when either one of the trio would ask "when is the album being released?" this is because the album took so long to get into the shops after being recorded.
[edit] Albums
- Under The One Sky (1989) (The Distance)
- Company Of Strangers (1995) (Bad Company)
- Stories Told & Untold (1996) (Bad Company)
- Any Day Now (2005) (The Jones Gang)
[edit] Solo albums
- Robert Hart (1992)
- Cries And Whispers (1989)
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- [2] 10th Anniversary American Veteran Awards "Angel" written by Robert Hart and Russ Ballard
