Roland Gift

Roland Gift
Gift pictured at a Grammy rehearsal in 1990
Born	Roland Lee Gift (1961-05-28) 28 May 1961 Birmingham, England, United Kingdom
Nationality	British
Occupation	Musician, Actor
Known for	Member of Fine Young Cannibals and Akrylykz

Roland Lee Gift (born 28 May 1961)^[1] is a British singer and actor. He was the lead singer of the band Fine Young Cannibals.

Biography

Gift was born in Sparkhill in Birmingham^[2] to a white mother and a black father,^[3] and lived in the city until the age of 11.^[4] He then moved to Hull, where his mother, Pauline, ran several second-hand clothes shops. He was educated at Kelvin Hall School in Hull. He has three sisters, Helga, Ragna and Jay and one brother, Paul.

Akrylykz and Fine Young Cannibals

His first recording on which he played the saxophone^[3] was with Hull ska band Akrylykz, the second release on nearby York's Red Rhino Records.^[5] Although this record was unsuccessful, it did bring him to the attention of Andy Cox and David Steele of The Beat. The Akrylykz toured with The Beat,^[6] which led to them in around 1985 asking him to be the lead singer of their new band Fine Young Cannibals after their old band, The Beat, had broken up. He also was a guest artist on the Ska City Rollers' "Time Is Tight" single.

In 1990, he was named by People magazine as one of the "50 Most Beautiful People" in the world.

Solo career

In 2002, Gift released a self-titled solo album, featuring the single "It's Only Money". In 2007, Gift was in a recording studio working on a follow-up album.

Gift has played again as a solo artist, an initial gig scheduled at the O2 Bubble (part of the British Music Experience) was cancelled.^[7] He did, however, appear at the Rewind Festival in Henley.^[8] On 13 February 2012, Gift appeared on BBC Radio Solent promoting the gigs and announced a potential new album in 2012. This will be a soundtrack to a film Gift is involved with. "The Prisoner" was played on the show and Roland said this would probably be included in the soundtrack.

He also appeared in Jools Holland's 20th annual 'Hootenanny' show, which aired overnight on BBC2 on 31 December 2012 / 1 January 2013,^[9] the last to be recorded at BBC Television Centre. Gift sang the Fine Young Cannibals hits 'Good Thing' and 'Suspicious Minds'.

Gift was a guest vocalist on Jools Holland's 2013 tour.^[10]

Acting

Roland Gift singing at Guilfest 2011

In 1987, Gift had his first screen role in the film Sammy and Rosie Get Laid. In 1990 he did his first stage work, playing Romeo in the Hull Truck Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a production which had a brief run in the United States at the Staller Center for the Arts.^[11] He also appeared as a lounge singer (singing songs that were included in the Fine Young Cannibals album The Raw and the Cooked) in the film Tin Men, directed by Barry Levinson.

In 1989, he appeared in Scandal as Johnny Edgecombe, Christine Keeler's boyfriend.

In December 1992, he began the first of five appearances as the evil Immortal Xavier St. Cloud in the television series Highlander: The Series, and appeared in an episode of the Yorkshire Television series Heartbeat. He has also appeared in the movie The Island of the Mapmaker's Wife (2001).

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

• Roland Gift at the Internet Movie Database