Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

band

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English new wave and synth-pop band that formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of Martyn Ware (keyboards) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) (both previously of the Human League), an ...

, which released several UK chart hits in the 1980s and 1990s, including "

Temptation Temptation is a desire to engage in short-term urges for enjoyment that threatens long-term goals.Webb, J.R. (Sep 2014). Incorporating Spirituality into Psychology of temptation: Conceptualization, measurement, and clinical implications. Sp ...

", "

Let Me Go Let or LET may refer to: Sports * Let serve, when the served object in certain racket sports hits the net and lands in the correct service court, such as; ** Let (badminton) ** Let (pickleball) ** Let (tennis) * Ladies European Tour, the ladi ...

", " Come Live with Me", " Crushed by the Wheels of Industry", "

Sunset Now "Sunset Now" is a song by the British New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, which was released in 1984 as the first single from their third studio album ''How Men Are''. It was written by Glenn Gregory, Ian Craig Marsh and Martyn ...

", " This Is Mine", and " (We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang"

Early years

Glenn Peter Gregory was born on 16 May 1958 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, England. His father, Howard, was a steel worker. As a teenager, he wanted to be an actor, but he worked in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

as a photographer.

Music career

In 1977, Gregory was part of the band 57 Men, formed by

Jack Hues Jeremy Allan Ryder, better known as Jack Hues, (born 10 December 1954) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician, who is best known for forming and fronting the 1980s English new wave band, Wang Chung. Hues was also a member of the one-o ...

and

Nick Feldman Nicholas Laurence Feldman (born 1 May 1955) is an English musician best known for forming the British new wave band Wang Chung in 1980. Feldman was half of the duo Promised Land, which also featured Jon Moss of Culture Club. He was a founding ...

, who both later formed the band Wang Chung. Gregory knew the founding members of

The Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their third album ''Dare' ...

for many years. He had been singing and playing

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

in bands with

Ian Craig Marsh Ian Craig Marsh (born 11 November 1956) is an English musician and composer. He was a founding member of the electronic band the Human League, writing and playing on their first two albums and several singles, until leaving in 1980 to form the ...

since 1973. In early 1981, he was contacted by

Martyn Ware Martyn Ware (born 19 May 1956) is an English musician, composer, arranger, record producer, and music programmer. As a founding member of both the Human League and Heaven 17, Ware was partly responsible for hit songs such as "Being Boiled" and " ...

after the original incarnation of the Human League broke up, and was asked to join Heaven 17, a new band resulting from the break-up. The band Heaven 17 included the trio of

, and Gregory as lead singer. The band released eight

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

, and had many hits in the UK. However, by the late 1980s their popularity had declined. The band broke up in 1988, but reunited in 1996, and played their first ever live concert in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007, but Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17. In 1984, Gregory contributed to the Band Aid single, "

Do They Know It's Christmas? "Do They Know It's Christmas?" is a charity song written in 1984 by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise money for the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. It was first recorded by Band Aid, a supergroup assembled by Geldof and Ure consisting of pop ...

", singing the line "No rain nor rivers flow". Outside Heaven 17, Gregory has been a member of the bands Ugly and

Honeyroot Honeyroot is an ambient dance collaboration between Glenn Gregory and Keith Lowndes, signed to the independent record label Just Music. Career The project had its origins in the 1997 album, ''Skyscraping'', by ABC. As ABC was essentially Ma ...

, as well as working with

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer o ...

Grace Jones Grace Beverly Jones (born 19 May 1948) is a model, singer and actress. Born in Jamaica, she and her family moved to Syracuse, New York, when she was a teenager. Jones began her modelling career in New York state, then in Paris, working for ...

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

Terence Trent D'Arby Sananda Francesco Maitreya (born Terence Trent Howard; March 15, 1962), who started his career with the stage name Terence Trent D'Arby, is an American singer and songwriter who came to fame with his debut studio album, '' Introducing the Hardl ...

Ultravox Ultravox (earlier styled as Ultravox!) were a British new wave band, formed in London in April 1974 as Tiger Lily. Between 1980 and 1986, they scored seven Top Ten albums and seventeen Top 40 singles in the UK, the most successful of which was ...

La Roux La Roux ( ) is an English synthpop act formed in 2008 by singer Elly Jackson and record producer Ben Langmaid. The act's debut album '' La Roux'' (2009) was a critical and commercial success, winning a Grammy Award and producing hit singles su ...

and

John Lydon John Joseph Lydon (; born 31 January 1956), also known by his former stage name Johnny Rotten, is an English singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the late-1970s punk band the Sex Pistols, which lasted from 1975 until 1978, and aga ...

. He has also established a career in soundtrack music, writing for radio, TV and film. He creates scores in a private studio built at the bottom of his garden.

Personal life

In 1983, Gregory married singer Sarah Osborne of the Belgian pop group Allez Allez, but the two divorced after about three years. Gregory then married his second wife Lindsay who works for a design company. The couple have a son, Louis.Benyon, Lucy (2018). "Glenn Gregory: 5 things I can't live without." ''Express'' 10 September 2018.
Retrieved 28 December 2018.

Discography

;Heaven 17 *''

Penthouse and Pavement ''Penthouse and Pavement'' is the debut studio album by English new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released in September 1981 by Virgin Records. "(We Don't Need This) Fascist Groove Thang" was released as a single, but did not achieve char ...

'' (1981) *'' The Luxury Gap'' (1983) *'' How Men Are'' (1984) *''

Pleasure One ''Pleasure One'' is the fourth studio album by the English new wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Heaven 17, released on 17 November 1986 by Virgin Records. It was the band's last studio album chart entry within the UK Top 100. Background ...

(1986) *'' Teddy Bear, Duke & Psycho'' (1988) *'' Bigger Than America'' (1996) *'' Before After'' (2005) *''

Naked as Advertised ''Naked as Advertised'' is the eighth studio album by the English synthpop band Heaven 17. It was originally released in 2008, on the label Just Music, three years after their previous album, '' Before After''. The album contained re-workings of t ...

'' (2008)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gregory, Glenn 1958 births 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers Living people English male singer-songwriters English new wave musicians English keyboardists British synth-pop new wave musicians ABC (band) members Heaven 17 members Musicians from Sheffield Virgin Records artists Male new wave singers Holy Holy (tribute band) members