Ricky Ross (musician)

Richard Alexander Ross (born 22 December 1957) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and broadcaster who is the lead singer of the rock band Deacon Blue. Alongside his discography with Deacon Blue, Ross has released a number of solo albums, his first, '' So Long Ago'' was released in 1984.

Biography

Early life

Ross was born in Dundee, Scotland, in 1957 and attended the High School of Dundee, an independent school.

Deacon Blue (1987–present)

Ross is a founding member and lead singer of the rock band Deacon Blue. The band released their debut album, '' Raintown'', on 1 May 1987 in the United Kingdom and in the United States in February 1988. Their second album, ''When the World Knows Your Name'' (1989), topped the UK Albums Chart for two weeks, and included " Real Gone Kid" which became their first top ten single in the UK Singles Chart.

Deacon Blue released their fourth album, ''Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'', in 1993. The band split in 1994, following which Vipond began a career in television. Five years later, the band held a reunion gig, and this led on to a new album, ''Walking Back Home'', with the band now working on a part-time basis. The band released another album, ''Homesick (Deacon Blue album), Homesick'', in 2001. Though Graeme Kelling died from pancreatic cancer in 2004, the band has continued and 2006 saw Deacon Blue returning to the studio to record three new tracks for a ''Singles (Deacon Blue album), Singles'' album – including the track "Bigger than Dynamite". Deacon Blue's next album was ''The Hipsters'', in 2012. The band released another album, ''A New House'', in September 2014. ''Believers (Deacon Blue album), Believers'', was released in September 2016. A concert recording of their return to the Barrowlands, Glasgow, was released on 31 March 2017.

The band's tenth studio album ''City of Love (Deacon Blue album), City of Love'' was released on 6 March 2020. In February 2021, they released their eleventh studio album entitled ''Riding on the Tide of Love'' to commercial success in both the UK and their native Scotland.

As of 2012, Deacon Blue's total album sales stood at six million, with twelve UK top 40 singles, along with two UK number one albums.

Solo work (1984–present)

Before the formation of Deacon Blue, he released a solo album '' So Long Ago'', on the Glasgow independent label Sticky Records. After the band's break-up in 1994, Ross resurrected his solo career and Epic Records, Epic released his second solo album ''What You Are (album), What You Are'' in 1996. As Ross's first solo album ''So Long Ago'' was a minor release on a relatively minor label, ''What You Are'' became his first solo release on a major label and as such is generally regarded as his debut solo album for a major label.

Ross released another album, ''New Recording (album), New Recording'', on his own label in 1997. After Deacon Blue's reunion in 1999 and the release of their ''Walking Back Home'' and ''Homesick (Deacon Blue album), Homesick'' albums, Ross entered into a new publishing deal with Warner Chappell UK, and released another solo album, ''This Is the Life (Ricky Ross album), This Is the Life'', through Chrysalis Records's short-lived Papillion label, in 2002. Papillion had released Deacon Blue's ''Homesick'' album the previous year.

As part of his publishing deal with Warner Chappell, Ross began co-writing with other artists. He currently spends more time writing than on his solo career or Deacon Blue projects. To date he has written for and with James Blunt, Ronan Keating, KT Tunstall, David Sneddon, Cathy Burton, Gareth Gates, Emma Bunton, Will Young and Jamie Cullum among others. The most recent solo album released by Ross is ''Short Stories Vol.1'', released in September 2017.

In 2005, Ross released the album ''Pale Rider (Ricky Ross album), Pale Rider'' through P3 Music.

In September 2009 Ross and McIntosh released ''The Great Lakes'', an album on the Cooking Vinyl label, under the name McIntoshRoss. 2013 saw the release of Ricky's latest collection of songs, the 12-track ''Trouble Came Looking'', on the Edsel Recordings label. He also did a wide-ranging UK acoustic tour in support of the album which saw him play small, intimate venues, alongside Gregor Philp.

Ross released the album ''Short Stories Vol. 1'' with the label earMUSIC on 15 September 2017. The album incorporates new songs with a mix of Deacon Blue song's such as "Wages Day" and "Raintown".

Other work

Ross currently presents ''Another Country with Ricky Ross'' on BBC Radio Scotland and has covered for Mark Radcliffe, Bob Harris (radio), Bob Harris and Dermot O'Leary on BBC Radio 2. He also occasionally broadcasts for Radio 2 from the yearly Celtic Connections festival in Glasgow. For his broadcasting, Ross won the International Country Broadcaster of the Year Award from the Country Music Association Awards, Country Music Association in 2014.

He is also the recipient of an honorary doctorate from Abertay University.

Personal life

Ross is married to Deacon Blue member Lorraine McIntosh and they have four children together. They married on May 12, 1990.

Discography

Solo albums

*'' So Long Ago'' (1984)
*''What You Are (album), What You Are'' (1996)
*''New Recording (album), New Recording'' (1997)
*''This Is the Life (Ricky Ross album), This Is the Life'' (2002)
*''Pale Rider (Ricky Ross album), Pale Rider'' (2005)
*''Trouble Came Looking'' (2013)
*''Short Stories Vol. 1'' (2017)
*''Short Stories Vol. 2'' (2022)

with Deacon Blue

* '' Raintown'' (1987)
* ''When the World Knows Your Name'' (1989)
* ''Fellow Hoodlums'' (1991)
* ''Whatever You Say, Say Nothing'' (1993)
* ''Walking Back Home'' (1999)
* ''Homesick (Deacon Blue album), Homesick'' (2001)
* ''The Hipsters'' (2012)
* ''A New House'' (2014)
* ''Believers (Deacon Blue album), Believers'' (2016)
* ''City of Love (album), City of Love'' (2020)
* ''Riding on the Tide of Love'' (2021)

EPs

*''The Undeveloped Heart EP'' (1998)

Singles

References

External links

''Another Country with Ricky Ross''
(BBC Radio Scotland)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Ricky
1957 births
Living people
21st-century Scottish male singers
BBC Radio Scotland presenters
People educated at the High School of Dundee
20th-century Scottish male singers
Scottish pop singers
Scottish rock singers
Scottish songwriters
Scottish singer-songwriters
Scottish pop guitarists
Scottish male guitarists
Scottish pianists
Scottish keyboardists
Musicians from Dundee
Deacon Blue members
British male pianists
21st-century pianists
21st-century British male musicians
British male songwriters
British male singer-songwriters