Richard Ashcroft

b. Richard Paul Ashcroft, 11 September 1971, Billinge, Wigan, Lancashire, England. The charismatic Ashcroft made his name with the Verve, a band who triumphed over commercial, artistic and personal struggles to release one of the most successful UK rock albums of recent times, 1997's drone-pop classic Urban Hymns. The band finally imploded for good in April 1999, with Ashcroft by now working on solo material with players including pedal steel guitarist B.J. Cole and Verve drummer Pete Salisbury. His first solo release was the single "A Song For The Lovers", which reached the UK Top 5 in April 2000. A disarmingly up-tempo and upbeat paean to love, the single's melodic acoustic rock style proved an apt taster for Ashcroft's debut album, Alone With Everybody. Essentially an extended love letter to his wife Kate Radley, the album's classic rock mannerisms drew a divided response from critics, with some bemoaning the fact that Ashcroft had diluted the Verve's sound while others praised his new direction. The follow-up Human Conditions was an album that slowly soaked into the bloodstream, proving Ashcroft's determination to succeed on his own musical terms and not those that are expected of him. The album's commercial failure did not deter the bloody-minded Ashcroft, who returned four years later with the almost identical sounding Keys To The World and proved his detractors wrong by achieving a major hit with the debut single "Break The Night With Colour".