Christopher Ward Norman (born 25 October 1950) is an English

soft rock Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. S ...

singer. Norman was the original lead singer of the English rock band Smokie, (1964–1986), who found success in Europe in the 1970s. "

Stumblin' In "Stumblin' In" is a song written by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, performed by Chris Norman and Suzi Quatro. Originally released as a standalone single, it was later added to some editions of the Quatro album '' If You Knew Suzi...'' It was Norm ...

", a 1978 duet with

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of hit singles that found greater success in Europe and Australia than in her homeland, reaching No. 1 in th ...

, was a big US hit.

Life and career

Chris Norman, inglise laulja Tallinnas 95

With the advent of

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

, Norman acquired his first guitar at the age of seven. His early musical influences were

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American musician, singer, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the " ...

, and

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002), known as Lonnie Donegan, was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the "King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotl ...

. In these early years, Norman's parents moved around the country a lot, which resulted in him going to nine different schools, and living in various locations around England, such as Redcar,

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

, Kimpton, and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. By 1962, however, the family had moved back to Norman's mother's home city of

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. Approaching his twelfth birthday, Norman started at St. Bede's Grammar School, where he was to meet

Alan Silson Smokie (originally spelt Smokey) are an English rock band from Bradford, Yorkshire. The band found success at home and abroad after teaming up with Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn. They have had a number of line-up changes and were still actively ...

and Terry Uttley, future members of Smokie. As teenagers, influenced by the new era of groups such as

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

and

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

and then

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, Norman and Silson began meeting up and spent nearly all their spare time learning new songs on their guitars. They managed to persuade Uttley to join them and, along with a drummer friend called Ron Kelly, they formed their first band. The Yen, Essence, and Long Side Down were just some of a variety of names they called themselves before settling on "The Elizabethans". When Ron Kelly left the group in 1973, an old friend called Pete Spencer was asked to take over on the drums, and the group, which was to become Smokie, was complete. Between 1974 and the early 1980s, Smokie enjoyed success touring all over the world, but the strain and pressure of constantly being away from home and family was beginning to tell on Norman. By the early 1980s he decided to spend more time writing and working in the studio. Norman and Spencer now worked together on songs for other artists including hits for

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

(" Head Over Heels in Love", a No. 31 UK hit), and the

England football team The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affiliat ...

song "This Time (We'll Get It Right)". He also worked with

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse Fältskog (born 5 April 1950), known as Agnetha Fältskog (), is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 self-titled debut album. She later achieved internatio ...

(on her solo album),

Racey Racey are a British pop group, formed in 1976 in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England, by Clive Wilson and Phil Fursdon. They achieved success in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with hits such as "Lay Your Love on Me" and "Some Girls". Thei ...

(co-writer of "Baby It's You"),

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

(backing vocals on ''

''), and

Heavy Metal Kids Heavy Metal Kids are a British rock band. History Early years (1973–1985) Heavy Metal Kids were formed in 1972 by the merger of two previous bands: Heaven and Biggles. They took their name from a gang of street kids, featured in the nove ...

. In 1978, Norman recorded a duet with

, "

", which made No. 4 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and sold over one million copies. Norman's solo career took off in 1986 with the song, " Midnight Lady", which was a hit throughout Europe holding the number one spot in Germany for six weeks (where it sold 900,000 copies). Further success followed by the songs " Some Hearts Are Diamonds", " No Arms Can Ever Hold You", "

Broken Heroes "Broken Heroes" is a song by English soft rock musician Chris Norman, released as a single in 1988. It appears as the first track on the 1988 compilation album, ''Hits from the Heart''. The song, produced and written by Dieter Bohlen, one half ...

", "Fearless Hearts", "Sarah" and "Baby I Miss You". In 1994, Norman was honoured by

CMT Europe CMT Europe was a European television channel. It was a European version of Country Music Television. The channel started in 1992 and in September 1993 it launched on transponder 41 on Astra 1C as part of the Sky Multichannels package, where it wa ...

as their 'International Video Star of the Year'. In 2004, he took part in the ''Comeback Show'' on the German TV station

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

and he performed "Stumblin' In" as a duet with C. C. Catch. In the final episode of the show, he was joined by Smokie for the final song. On 2 June 2007, Norman performed at the Peel Bay Festival,

Isle of Man ) , anthem = "O Land of Our Birth" , image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg , image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg , mapsize = , map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe , map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green) in Europe ...

Discography

Awards

* Löwe von Radio Luxemburg Silver Award * Goldene Europa * CMT Europe International Video Star of the Year * Gala zur Verleihung des Internationalen Schlagerpreises * Radio Regenbogen Award

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Chris 1950 births Living people 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English male singers English rock singers English pop singers English rock guitarists English songwriters British soft rock musicians Rhythm guitarists Musicians from Bradford People from Redcar Hansa Records artists Sony BMG artists Rak Records artists Polydor Records artists 20th-century British guitarists 21st-century British guitarists English male guitarists 20th-century British male singers 21st-century British male singers British male songwriters