Phillip John Mogg (born 15 April 1948,

Wood Green Wood Green is a suburban district in the borough of Haringey in London, England. Its postal district is N22, with parts in N8 or N15. The London Plan identifies it as one of the metropolitan centres in Greater London, and today it forms a maj ...

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 ...

) is the lead singer for the English rock band

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

, which he formed with longtime friends

Pete Way Peter Frederick Way (7 August 1950 – 14 August 2020) was an English hard rock and heavy metal bassist. He was bassist for the rock band UFO from 1968 to 1982; Way rejoined the band briefly in 1988–1989, and full-time from 1991 to 2008. He ...

and Andy Parker.Buckley, Peter (1999) ''The Rough Guide to Rock'', Rough Guides, , p. 1115

Musical career

Formed in 1968, UFO first gained notice as a

space rock Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drummin ...

group with a series of recordings on Beacon/

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

. After guitarist

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. ...

joined in 1973, they signed to

Chrysalis Records Chrysalis Records () is a British record label that was founded in 1968. The name is both a reference to the pupal stage of a butterfly and a combination of its founders' names, Chris Wright and Terry Ellis. It started as the Ellis-Wright Ag ...

, and changed their musical style from space rock to

hard rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a loosely defined subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard ...

and heavy metal, but found only modest commercial success. However, UFO are often cited as one of the key influences on the hard rock and heavy metal scenes of the 1980s and 1990s, including bands such as

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Despite an innovative and pioneering body of work in th ...

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

, Testament, Overkill,

Anthrax Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium ''Bacillus anthracis''. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs, intestinal, and injection. Symptom onset occurs between one day and more than two months after the infection is contracted. The sk ...

Alice in Chains Alice in Chains (often abbreviated as AIC) is an American rock band from Seattle, Washington, formed in 1987 by guitarist and vocalist Jerry Cantrell and drummer Sean Kinney, who later recruited bassist Mike Starr and lead vocalist Layne ...

, Tesla and Dio. Mogg wrote the majority of UFO's lyrics, with the music being written by Way, Schenker, and later, Paul Raymond, although Schenker left the band in 1978 to launch his solo band. Mogg is the only member of UFO to appear on all of the band's albums and remains their only permanent member. In 1997, during UFO's hiatus, Mogg and Way, under the moniker Mogg/Way, released a couple of albums, ''Edge of the World'' and ''Chocolate Box''. In 2002, he was in a side project, $ign of 4, featuring Cosmosquad members

Shane Gaalaas Shane Gaalaas (born August 8, 1967) is a Canadian-born drummer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter best known for his long running affiliation with Japanese rock superstars B'z, whom he joined in 2002, and his extensive work with guitar virtuo ...

on drums and Jeff Kollman on guitar, respectively. Kollman had earlier been the guitarist and co-writer on Mogg/Way's ''Chocolate Box''. In late 2003, having regained the rights to the UFO name from Schenker, Mogg spoke with

and Paul Raymond, and ended up having a reunion tour which later brought the band back for good, with newly hired American guitarist

Vinnie Moore Vincent Moore (born April 14, 1964) is an American guitarist and a member of the British hard rock band UFO. Biography Moore was born in New Castle, Delaware. He began his professional career at age 12 after receiving a guitar as a Chris ...

. UFO have since released six more albums, the latest being the 2017 covers album ''

The Salentino Cuts ''The Salentino Cuts'' is the 22nd studio album (and first covers album) by British rock band UFO. The album was released on Cleopatra Records on 29 September 2017. It was the final studio release by the band prior to the 2019 death of guitaris ...

''. UFO announced their "Last Orders: 50th Anniversary" farewell tour in 2019. The band was to tour the United Kingdom from March to April, Europe from June to August, and finally the United States from October to November. The final gig was to be the rock legends cruise, a five-day event in early 2020. Mogg confirmed he was retiring after the tour as a member of UFO, but did not rule out other musical ventures. The final tour is rescheduled to 2022.

Personal life

Phil Mogg was a junior boxing champion in North London before his music career. He is married to Emma Mogg, a former page three girl since 2006 and currently resides in

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and Surrey to the north-west. The largest settlement in East Su ...

. He is the uncle of Nigel Mogg, former bassist of

The Quireboys The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. When the band formed they were originally known as The Queerboys and later as the London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at ...

.Larkin, Colin (2011) ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', Omnibus Press, p. 2260

Discography

UFO

Studio

* ''

UFO 1 ''UFO 1'' is the debut studio album by British Rock music, rock band UFO (band), UFO. It was first released in the UK by Beacon Records in October 1970. The first US release was on Rare Earth Records/Motown in April 1971. Neither of these releas ...

'' (1970) Uncharted * '' Flying'' (1971) Uncharted * ''

Phenomenon A phenomenon ( : phenomena) is an observable event. The term came into its modern philosophical usage through Immanuel Kant, who contrasted it with the noumenon, which ''cannot'' be directly observed. Kant was heavily influenced by Gottfried W ...

'' (1974) Uncharted * ''

Force It ''Force It'' is the fourth studio album by the British rock band UFO, released in 1975. It was their first album to chart in the United States. The album was produced by Ten Years After bass player Leo Lyons. Another Ten Years After member, C ...

'' (1975) Chart Position 71 (US) * ''

No Heavy Petting ''No Heavy Petting'' is the fifth studio album by the British rock band UFO, released in 1976. It is the first UFO album to feature a full-time keyboard player as a member of the band, making this their first record as a five-piece band. While ...

'' (1976) Chart Position 167 (US) * '' Lights Out'' (1977) Chart Position 51 (UK), 23 (US) * '' Obsession'' (1978) Chart Position 26 (UK), 41 (US) * '' No Place to Run'' (1980) Chart Position 11 (UK), 51 (US) * ''

The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent ''The Wild, the Willing and the Innocent'' is the ninth studio album by English hard rock band UFO, released in January 1981. Their first to be entirely self-produced. Its song "Lonely Heart" was a minor UK hit. Former Wild Horses' keyboard ...

'' (1981) Chart Position 19 (UK), 77 (US) * ''

Mechanix "Mechanix" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the eighth and final track from their debut studio album, '' Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!'', which released in 1985 under Combat Records. The song was writ ...

'' (1982) Chart Position 8 (UK), 82 (US) * '' Making Contact'' (1983) Chart Position 32 (UK), 153 (US) * ''

Misdemeanor A misdemeanor (American English, spelled misdemeanour elsewhere) is any "lesser" criminal act in some common law legal systems. Misdemeanors are generally punished less severely than more serious felonies, but theoretically more so than adm ...

'' (1985) Chart Position 74 (UK), 106 (US) * '' Ain't Misbehavin''' ( EP) (1988) Uncharted * ''

High Stakes & Dangerous Men ''High Stakes & Dangerous Men'' is the thirteenth album by British hard rock band UFO, released in February 1992.Strong, Martin C., "The Great Rock Discography," Random House Inc., New York NY, 1998, p. 869 It is the only UFO studio album to ...

'' (1992) Uncharted * '' Walk on Water'' (1995) Uncharted * ''

Covenant Covenant may refer to: Religion * Covenant (religion), a formal alliance or agreement made by God with a religious community or with humanity in general ** Covenant (biblical), in the Hebrew Bible ** Covenant in Mormonism, a sacred agreement b ...

'' (2000) Uncharted * ''

Sharks Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachimorp ...

'' (2002) Uncharted * '' You Are Here'' (2004) Uncharted * '' The Monkey Puzzle'' (2006) * '' The Visitor'' (2009) * '' Seven Deadly'' (2012) * ''

A Conspiracy of Stars ''A Conspiracy of Stars'' is the 21st studio album (and most recent album of original material) by British hard rock band UFO, released on 23 February 2015. Track listing Personnel ;Band members * Phil Mogg – vocals * Vinnie Moore ...

'' (2015) * ''

'' (2017)

Live

* ''

Live Live may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Live!'' (2007 film), 2007 American film * ''Live'' (2014 film), a 2014 Japanese film *'' ''Live'' (Apocalyptica DVD) Music *Live (band), American alternative rock band * List of albums ...

'' (1972) Uncharted * ''Live in Concert'' (1974) * ''

Strangers in the Night "Strangers in the Night" is a song composed by Bert Kaempfert with English lyrics by Charles Singleton and Eddie Snyder. Kaempfert originally used it under the title "Beddy Bye" as part of the instrumental score for the movie ''A Man Could Get ...

'' (1979) Chart Position 42 (US), 8 (UK) * ''Lights Out in Tokyo'' (1992) * '' Live in Japan'' (1992) * ''T.N.T.'' (1993) * ''Heaven's Gate'' (1995) * ''Showtime'' (2005)

Others

* ''On with the Action'' (1998) * ''Live in Texas'' (2000) * '' Regenerator - Live 1982'' (2001) * '' Space Metal'' (1976) * ''

Anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically categ ...

'' (1986) * '' The Essential UFO'' (1992) * '' Best of UFO: Gold Collection'' (1996) * ''X-Factor: Out There & Back'' (1997) * ''Flying : The Early Years 1970-1973'' (2004) * '' An Introduction To UFO CD'' (2006) * ''

The Best of the Rest ''The Best of the Rest'' is a compilation album by the band UFO released in 1988. As the title implies, it focuses on the post-Michael Schenker years. Track listing #"The Writer" - 4:09 (from the album ''Mechanix'') #"Mystery Train" - 3:54 (fr ...

'' (1988)

Mogg/Way

* ''Edge of the World'' (1997) * ''Chocolate Box'' (1999)

$ign of 4

* ''Dancing With St. Peter '' (2002)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mogg, Phil 1948 births Living people People from Wood Green English male singers English rock singers English heavy metal singers UFO (band) members