Kevin Armstrong (born 2 February 1958) is an English rock guitarist, record producer and songwriter, best known for his work with

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of ...

and

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

History

Born in

Farnborough, Kent Farnborough is a village in south-eastern Greater London, England, located in the historic county of Kent. Situated south of Locksbottom, west of Green Street Green, north of Downe and Hazelwood, and east of Keston, it is centred southeas ...

, Armstrong attended St. Mary Cray Primary School and St. Olave's Grammar School, Orpington, Kent. Armstrong was signed by

Charlie Gillett Charles Thomas Gillett (; 20 February 1942 – 17 March 2010) was a British radio presenter, musicologist, and writer, mainly on rock and roll and other forms of popular music. He was particularly noted for his influential book ''The Sound of t ...

's Oval Records in 1980 and formed the group Local Heroes SW9 - as they were living in Stockwell, London - (with

Matthew Seligman Matthew Seligman (14 July 1955 – 17 April 2020) was an English bassist, best known for his association with the new wave music scene of the 1980s. Seligman was a member of the Soft Boys and the Thompson Twins, and was a sideman for Thomas Do ...

on bass and Kim Barti on drums) and released two albums, ''Drip Dry Zone'' in 1980 and ''New Opium'' in 1981. Armstrong recorded with

Thomas Dolby Thomas Morgan Robertson (born 14 October 1958), known by the stage name Thomas Dolby, is an English musician, producer, composer, entrepreneur and teacher. Dolby came to prominence in the 1980s, releasing hit singles including "She Blinded Me ...

on his first two albums ''

The Golden Age of Wireless ''The Golden Age of Wireless'' is the debut album by English musician Thomas Dolby. Originally released in May 1982, the album was reissued in a number of different configurations, with later resequencings including the pop hit " She Blinded M ...

'' and ''

The Flat Earth ''The Flat Earth'' is the second album by English new wave/ synth-pop musician Thomas Dolby, released in 1984. A remastered "Collector's Edition" of ''The Flat Earth'' was released on 13 July 2009, featuring bonus tracks and new sleeve notes ...

''. Armstrong took part in the recording of The Passions's third album ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a saf ...

'', produced by Mick Glossop. The first single from that album was "Jump for Joy", which was released on 5 May 1982, followed by the album and the "Sanctuary" single on 18 September 1982. Armstrong collaborated with

on the soundtrack for the film '' Absolute Beginners''. He also played in the band for

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

appearance in 1985 and recorded the song "

Dancing In The Street "Dancing in the Street" is a song written by Marvin Gaye, William "Mickey" Stevenson and Ivy Jo Hunter. It first became popular in 1964 when recorded by Martha Reeves & The Vandellas whose version reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 ...

" with David Bowie and

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English singer and songwriter who has achieved international fame as the lead vocalist and one of the founder members of the rock band the Rolling Stones. His ongoing songwriting partnershi ...

. He played guitar on the

1986 album ''

Blah Blah Blah Blah, blah blah etc. may refer to: Music * ''Blah-Blah-Blah'' (Iggy Pop album), 1986, or its title song * ''Blah Blah Blah'' (Blahzay Blahzay album), 1996 * ''Blah Blah Blah'' (EP), 2018 by Armin van Buuren or the title song * ''Blah Bla ...

'' and was musical director for Iggy Pop's world tour in 1986/87. Armstrong joined

Steve Nieve Steve Nieve ( "naïve"; born Stephen John Nason, 21 February 1958) is an English musician and composer. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Nieve has been a member of Elvis Costello's backing bands the Attractions, the Imposters and Madnes ...

's band for the

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...

Channel 4 chat show ''The Last Resort'' for two seasons in 1989, accompanying

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

In 1989 David Bowie asked Armstrong to join

Tin Machine Tin Machine were a British–American rock band formed in 1988, and fronted by English singer-songwriter David Bowie. The band consisted of Bowie on lead vocals, saxophone and guitar; Reeves Gabrels on guitar and vocals; Tony Fox Sales on bass ...

as the fifth member after he played on the debut album recorded in Switzerland and the Bahamas. In 1992 he co-wrote the title track of David Bowie's '' Outside'' album, with Bowie. Armstrong was a co-songwriter ("

Piccadilly Palare "Piccadilly Palare" is song by British singer Morrissey, released as a single in October 1990. The song features one of Morrissey's former colleagues from the Smiths, Andy Rourke, marking the last time any former member of the Smiths would colla ...

", "He Knows I'd Love To See Him" and "Oh Phoney") and guitarist for

for some of the recordings that appeared on the album ''

Bona Drag ''Bona Drag'' is a compilation album by Morrissey released on 15 October 1990. The album features an array of Morrissey's most popular songs from his early solo career, most of which had not been released on any previous album. The album name m ...

'' produced by

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954 in Hampstead, London, England) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films ''Still Crazy'' and ''Br ...

. In 1992 he produced the debut album by Nigerian artist

Keziah Jones Keziah Jones (born Olufemi Sanyaolu on 10 January 1968) is a Nigerian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He describes his musical style as "Blufunk", which is a fusion between raw blues elements and hard, edgy funk rhythms. Also his Nigerian roo ...

for Delabel France entitled '' Blufunk Is a Fact''. Later he produced other albums for Jones, ''Black Orpheus'' (2004), ''Nigerian Wood'' (2008) and ''Captain Rugged'' (2013). In 2007 he was guitarist on a world tour with

Sinéad O'Connor Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...

and in 2010 he played on new material with Thomas Dolby and toured the world in 2012 as Dolby's guitarist. In 2015/6, he put together and led the band for

's live appearances worldwide. In 2019, Kevin Armstrong released the album ''RUN'' on Wishing Tree Records. A 2020 American tour with a band of all David Bowie alumni headed by

Mike Garson Michael David Garson (born July 29, 1945) is an American pianist, who has worked with David Bowie, Nine Inch Nails, St. Vincent, Duran Duran, Free Flight and The Smashing Pumpkins. Early career Garson went to Lafayette High School in Broo ...

called A Bowie Celebration was interrupted because of the coronavirus crisis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Armstrong, Kevin Living people English rock guitarists 1958 births People from Farnborough, London People educated at St Olave's Grammar School