Ian Parker (born 26 November 1953) is a Scottish keyboardist, vocalist, composer, DJ and producer. Ian has played keyboards with

The Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke (singer), Allan Clarke and Graham ...

since 1991 and with

Clannad Clannad () is an Irish band formed in 1970 in Gweedore, County Donegal by siblings Ciarán, Pól, and Moya Brennan and their twin uncles Noel and Pádraig Duggan. They have adopted various musical styles throughout their history, including ...

from 1988 to 2016, extensively touring the world and recording with both bands. He has also played with

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1946) is an English rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest success in the late 1970s and 1980 ...

Joan Armatrading Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist. A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...

Killing Joke Killing Joke are an English rock music, rock band from Notting Hill, London, England, formed in 1979 by Jaz Coleman (vocals, keyboards), Paul Ferguson (drums), Geordie Walker (guitar) and Youth (musician), Youth (bass). Their first album, ''Ki ...

Tom Robinson Band Tom Robinson Band (TRB) are a British rock band, established in 1976 by singer, songwriter and bassist Tom Robinson. The band's debut single "2-4-6-8 Motorway" was a top five hit on the UK Singles Chart in 1977, and their third single, "Up Ag ...

Three Degrees The Three Degrees is an American female vocal group formed circa 1963 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Although 16 women have been members over the years, the group has always been a trio. The current line-up consists of Helen Scott, Valerie Holi ...

Moya Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

Samantha Fox Samantha Karen Fox (born 15 April 1966) is an English pop singer and former glamour model from East London. She rose to public attention aged 16, when her mother entered her photographs in an amateur modelling contest run by ''The Sunday Peopl ...

Mud A MUD (; originally multi-user dungeon, with later variants multi-user dimension and multi-user domain) is a Multiplayer video game, multiplayer Time-keeping systems in games#Real-time, real-time virtual world, usually Text-based game, text-bas ...

Peter Gabriel Peter Brian Gabriel (born 13 February 1950) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and activist. He rose to fame as the original lead singer of the progressive rock band Genesis. After leaving Genesis in 1975, he launched ...

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...

, Killer B's,

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, Katrina and the Waves,

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, the Nolans, Wall Street Crash, and the

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, and has been Musical Director for

the Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

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and the Chi-Lites.

Early life

Ian Parker was born on 26 November 1953 in the coastal town of

Irvine, Ayrshire Irvine ( ; sco, Irvin,
gd, Irbhinn, IPA: 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 ...

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Stax Streaming API for XML (StAX) is an application programming interface ( API) to read and write XML documents, originating from the Java programming language community. Traditionally, XML APIs are either: * DOM based - the entire document is read i ...

and Atlantic Soul. In 1969 he started playing with the Ravenspark Academy school rock band "Timor Mortis" performing covers of such artistes as

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

Cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

and

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

. Other members of the band were Andy Baird vocals, Alan Aitken guitar, Davie Stafford bass and Alistair 'Mub' McKinnon drums. This led to him forming a gigging band, which was originally called 'Tight Express' and also had Alan Aitken and Mub McKinnon as its members. This band later expanded to a four-piece with Leo Bigham joining on bass and vocals and became 'The Duck', playing clubs and pubs. The line up now was Ian Parker keyboards and vocals, Alan Aitken guitar, Mub McKinnon drums, and Leo Bigham bass and vocals. Later when Ian left to move to London, Aitken, Bigham and McKinnon formed the band Joe Lethal. He attended the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

in Glasgow between 1972–1975 and obtained D.R.S.A.M. qualifications. He then moved down to London where he played with the house band at the

Hammersmith Palais The Hammersmith Palais de Danse, in its last years simply named Hammersmith Palais, was a dance hall and entertainment venue in Hammersmith, London, England that operated from 1919 until 2007. It was the first ''palais de danse'' to b ...

. This led to him joining the

where he was a member 1979–81. He appears on the album ''

TRB Two ''TRB Two'' – also known as ''TRB2'' – is the second studio album by Tom Robinson Band. It was recorded days after the original drummer, Dolphin Taylor, left the band. The TRB disbanded four months after its release. Steve Ridgeway designed t ...

'' (1979), performing lead vocals on one track ("Law and Order"). From 1983 to 1984 he played with The Three Degrees, followed by Killer B's (1985–87).

Solo work

He has written and recorded two solo albums ''Pacifica'' (2015) and ''Count The Waves'' (1996). Pacifica is in the electronica music style, but also with vocal contributions from Peter Howarth. On ''Count The Waves'',

Hollies The Hollies are a British pop rock band, formed in 1962. One of the leading British groups of the 1960s and into the mid-1970s, they are known for their distinctive three-part vocal harmony style. Allan Clarke and Graham Nash founded the band ...

lead guitarist

Tony Hicks Anthony Christopher Hicks (born 16 December 1945) is an English guitarist and singer who has been a member of the British rock/pop band the Hollies since 1963, and as such was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2010. His main rol ...

contributes as co-composer and with harmony vocals and guitar. Ian Parker and Ray Stiles (Hollies bass player) were the major artists behind the album ''Celtic'' (1999). Ian Parker Kings Lynn

Composing and production

He has written or co-written songs featured on the recordings Ian Parker ''Pacifica'' (2015), Various Artists ''Celtic'' (1999), Maire –

Maire Brennan Moya Brennan (born Máire Philomena Ní Bhraonáin on 4 August 1952), also known as Máire Brennan, is an Irish folk singer, songwriter, harpist, and philanthropist. She is the sister of the musical artist known as Enya. She began performing pr ...

(1992): ''No Easy Way and Voices of the Land'',

''TRB Two'' (1979): "All Right All Night" and "Crossing Over The Road". He co-produced with Ray Stiles the 2006 Hollies recording Staying Power. He composed all the music for the Granada TV series Dominatrix Re-loaded (2004) and for the short film ''Dial M for Mistress'' shown at the Raindance Film Festival Soho London (2005). His TV appearances include the Jay Leno Show with Clannad,

David Letterman Show ''The David Letterman Show'' is an American morning talk show that was hosted by David Letterman on NBC. It originally aired from June 23 to October 24, 1980. Originally, the series lasted 90 minutes, then 60 minutes from August 4 onward. Back ...

with

, Later with Jools Holland with Clannad, and

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

with the

In The Hollies

Since he followed keyboard player Denis Haines in

he has been a permanent member of the group, touring worldwide. He has played on all their subsequent recordings including ''Hollies Live Hits'' ( 2013), ''Hollies Midas Touch'' (2010), ''Then Now Always''

(2009), ''Staying Power'' –

(2006), ''Peggy Sue Got Married'' (Not Fade Away) –

Buddy Holly Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

and

(1996).

In Clannad

Ian Parker joined Irish folk rock group Clannad in 1988 as a touring member, but has since then also contributed to many of their recordings. This includes Christ Church Cathedral (2013), ''The Essential Clannad'' (2012), ''Clannad: Live in Concert'' (2005), ''Landmarks'' (1998)(this album received a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

), ''Lore'' (1996), ''Banba'' (1993), ''Anam'' (1991), ''Past Present''(1989). Clannad with Ian Parker

References

External links

Ian Parker youtube channelIan Parker Facebook artist pageIan Parker websiteOfficial Hollies website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker, Ian 1953 births Living people Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland Scottish keyboardists People from Irvine, North Ayrshire The Hollies members