Spandau Ballet () were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of punk music that emerged in the late 1970s as musicians departed from punk's traditional elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a variety of avant-garde sensibilities and non-roc ...

underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the

Blitz Kids The Blitz Kids were a group of people who frequented the Tuesday club-night at Blitz in Covent Garden, London in 1979-80, and are credited with launching the New Romantic subcultural movement. History Steve Strange and Rusty Egan co-hosted th ...

, playing "European Dance Music" as "The Applause" for this new club culture's audience. They became one of the most successful groups of the

New Romantic The New Romantic movement was an underground subculture movement that originated in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s. The movement emerged from the nightclub scene in London and Birmingham at venues such as Billy's and The Blitz. The New ...

era of

British pop British pop music is popular music, produced commercially in the United Kingdom. It emerged in the mid-to late 1950s as a softer alternative to American rock 'n' roll. Like American pop music it has a focus on commercial recording, often orienta ...

and were part of the

Second British Invasion The Second British Invasion consisted of music acts from the United Kingdom that became popular in the U.S. during the early-to-mid 1980s primarily due to the cable music channel MTV. The term derives from the similar British Invasion of the U. ...

of the ''Billboard'' Top 40 in the 1980s, selling 25 million albums and having 23 hit singles worldwide. The band have had eight UK top 10 albums, including three greatest hits compilations and an album of re-recorded material. Their musical influences ranged from punk rock and

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became po ...

to the American crooners

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Chairman of the Board" and later called "Ol' Blue Eyes", Sinatra was one of the most popular ...

and

Tony Bennett Anthony Dominick Benedetto (born August 3, 1926), known professionally as Tony Bennett, is an American retired singer of traditional pop standards, big band, show tunes, and jazz. Bennett is also a painter, having created works under his birth ...

. The band's classic lineup featured

Gary Kemp Gary James Kemp (born 16 October 1959) is an English singer, songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead guitarist, backing vocalist, and principal songwriter for the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet. Kemp wrote the lyrics and music ...

on guitar, synthesiser and backing vocals, his brother

Martin Kemp Martin John Kemp (born 10 October 1961) is an English musician and actor, best known as the bassist in the new wave band Spandau Ballet and for his role as Steve Owen in ''EastEnders''. He is the younger brother of Gary Kemp, who is also a ...

on bass, vocalist

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley returned to the ban ...

, saxophonist

Steve Norman Steven Antony Norman (born 25 March 1960) is an English musician who plays tenor saxophone, guitar, percussion and other instruments, for the English band Spandau Ballet. Biography Early years Steve Norman was born in Stepney, east London, and w ...

and drummer

John Keeble John Leslie Keeble (born 6 July 1959) is an English pop and rock drummer. He is best known for his membership of the 1980s new wave band Spandau Ballet. Early years Keeble was athletic as a child, playing both football and cricket. He bought ...

. Gary Kemp was also the band's songwriter. Their debut single "

To Cut a Long Story Short "To Cut a Long Story Short" is the debut single by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 31 October 1980. The band began recording the song before they were signed to a record label because of the interest they had generated wi ...

" reached No. 5 in the UK in 1980 and was the first of ten UK top-10 singles. The band peaked in popularity in 1983 with the album ''

True True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * ...

'', as its

title track A title track is a song that has the same name as the album or film in which it appears. In the Korean music industry, the term is used to describe a promoted song on an album, akin to a single, regardless of the song's title. Title track may a ...

reached No. 1 in the UK and the top 5 in the US. In 2011, it received a BMI award as one of the most-played songs in US history with four million airplays. In 1984, they received a

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for technical excellence and were the first act to be approached by

Bob Geldof Robert Frederick Zenon Geldof (; born 5 October 1951) is an Irish singer-songwriter, and political activist. He rose to prominence in the late 1970s as lead singer of the Rock music in Ireland, Irish rock band the Boomtown Rats, who achieved ...

to join the original Band Aid lineup. In 1985, they performed at the

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 ...

benefit concert at Wembley Stadium. In 1990, the band played their last live show before a 19-year absence. In 1999, Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful case in the High Court against Gary Kemp and his Reformation Publishing Company for a share of the band's songwriting royalties. Spandau Ballet reformed in 2009 for The Reformation Tour, a sell-out "greatest hits" world tour. In 2014, their archive-only feature-length documentary biopic, ''Soul Boys of the Western World'', was world-premiered at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

Film Festival in Austin, Texas. It was officially screened at the Rome, Ghent (Belgium) and NYC Doc film festivals and received its European premiere at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

, London. In 2017, Hadley left Spandau Ballet. A year later, singer and actor Ross William Wild became their new frontman for a series of European live dates and a one-off show at Eventim's

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Palace. Located in Ham ...

. In May 2019, Wild tweeted that he had quit the band "to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio", while Spandau bass player Martin Kemp confirmed there were no further plans for Spandau to tour without original singer Hadley.

History

1976–1982: Formation and early success

Gary Kemp and Steve Norman first decided to form a band, both playing guitar, in October 1976 after witnessing

the Sex Pistols ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

perform that summer at Islington's Screen on the Green. Close friends and school mates at Dame Alice Owen's in Islington, they were joined by John Keeble on drums, Michael Ellison on bass and Tony Hadley on vocals when the school relocated to

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

. They rehearsed at lunchtimes in the school's music room, playing sped-up versions of

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for six decades, they are one of the most popular and enduring bands of the rock era. In the early 1960s, the Rolling Stones pioneered the gritty, rhythmically d ...

' "Silver Train",

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 ...

' "I Wanna Be Your Man" and

the Animals The Animals (also billed as Eric Burdon and the Animals) are an English rock band, formed in Newcastle upon Tyne in the early 1960s. The band moved to London upon finding fame in 1964. The Animals were known for their gritty, bluesy sound and ...

' "We've Gotta Get Out of This Place". They also played an original Gary Kemp composition, "I've Got Roots", which inspired their band name, Roots. Their first gig was a fourth-form Christmas party December 1976 in the school dining room. The band changed their name to The Cut when Michael Ellison left, with Steve Norman filling in on bass. In 1977, another Alice Owen's pupil Richard Miller took over on bass guitar and the band changed their name to The Makers, playing power-pop compositions by Gary Kemp or Steve Norman, with titles like "Fantasy Girl" and "Pin-Ups", inspired by mid-sixties bands like the

Small Faces Small Faces were an English rock band from London, founded in 1965. The group originally consisted of Steve Marriott, Ronnie Lane, Kenney Jones and Jimmy Winston, with Ian McLagan replacing Winston as the band's keyboardist in 1966. The ...

. They received a number of positive gig reviews from the British music press in ''Sounds'' and the ''New Musical Express''. The band changed personnel and name once more when their manager, friend and fellow Dame Alice Owen's schoolmate Steve Dagger suggested Martin Kemp be brought in as their bass player after seeing how much attention he got from The Makers' female fans when he was their roadie. The band was now called Gentry and Martin played his first gig on 1 July 1978 at the Middlesex Polytechnic in Cockfosters. Inspired by London's new underground nightclub scene, which began in Autumn 1978 with a weekly Tuesday night hosted by

Steve Strange Stephen John Harrington (28 May 1959 – 12 February 2015), known professionally as Steve Strange, was a Welsh singer. From the late 1970s he was a nightclub host and promoter. He became famous as the leader of the new wave synth-pop group ...

and DJ

Rusty Egan Rusty Egan (born 19 September 1957 in London) is the former drummer for the British new wave band Rich Kids. They were founded by former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock (bass guitarist and backing vocals, occasional lead vocals), with Steve New ( ...

at Billy's in Soho, the band switched musical direction to embrace the new electronic music. Friend and writer

Robert Elms Robert Frederick Elms (born 12 June 1959) is an English writer and broadcaster. Elms was a writer for ''The Face'' magazine in the 1980s and is currently known for his long-running radio show on BBC Radio London. His book, ''The Way We Wore'', ...

suggested they change their name to

Spandau Spandau () is the westernmost of the 12 boroughs () of Berlin, situated at the confluence of the Havel and Spree rivers and extending along the western bank of the Havel. It is the smallest borough by population, but the fourth largest by land ...

Ballet, a phrase which he told them he had seen written on a wall on a weekend trip to Berlin: “

Rudolf Hess Rudolf Walter Richard Hess (Heß in German; 26 April 1894 – 17 August 1987) was a German politician and a leading member of the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany. Appointed Deputy Führer to Adolf Hitler in 1933, Hess held that position unt ...

, all alone, dancing the Spandau Ballet”. Their first performance was an invitation-only showcase on the morning of Saturday 17 November 1979, at Halligan's Band Centre rehearsal studio, 103 Holloway Road, to test the reaction of the key influencers of the new scene. Having passed that 'audition', the band's first gig as Spandau Ballet was at the

Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...

's Christmas party on 5 December 1979.

''Journeys to Glory''

A series of exclusive 'secret' gigs in 1980 at unique non-rock venues like the Scala cinema and the cruiser HMS ''Belfast'', advertised only by word-of-mouth, created the hype for a major record companies bidding war. After the band signed with

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 ...

, they released "To Cut a Long Story Short", produced by

Landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the ...

’s

Richard James Burgess Richard James Burgess (born 29 June 1949) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, composer, author, manager, marketer and inventor. Burgess's music career spans more than 50 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s a ...

. It became a Top Five hit in the UK charts in late 1980, as well as reaching the Top 20 in Australia, Ireland and Spain. Their second single, "

The Freeze ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

", was another Top 20 hit in the UK, Ireland and Spain, followed by the double A-side "Musclebound/Glow" and the Gold-certified debut album ''

Journeys to Glory ''Journeys to Glory'' is the debut studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 6 March 1981 by Chrysalis Records. All of the songs on the album were produced by Richard James Burgess and written by band guitarist Gary Ke ...

'' in early 1981. The band played their first US showcase in May 1981 at New York's Underground Club, on 17th and Broadway, with a fashion show by Axiom, a co-operative of the London club scene's new clothes designers including

Sade Adu Helen Folasade Adu ( yo, Fọláṣadé Adú ; born 16 January 1959), known professionally as Sade Adu or simply Sade ( ), is a Nigerian-born British singer, known as the lead singer of her eponymous band. One of the most successful British fe ...

. Spandau were the first UK pop band to perform live at the world-famous Ku Club in Ibiza. Reflecting the rapidly evolving club scene and Soho's hippest new nightspot, Le Beat Route on Greek Street, the band changed musical directions again, releasing the funk single " Chant No.1 (I Don't Need This Pressure On)", which was a No.3 hit in the UK charts and reached No.17 in the US on ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' magazine's Disco Top 100 in 1981. The song was championed by DJ

Frankie Crocker Frankie "Hollywood" Crocker (December 18, 1937 – October 21, 2000) was an American disc jockey who helped grow WBLS, the black music radio station in New York. Early soul radio According to popeducation.org, Crocker began his career in Buffal ...

WBLS WBLS (107.5 MHz) is an urban adult contemporary formatted FM radio station, licensed to New York City. It is currently owned by Mediaco Holding and operated by Emmis Communications under a shared services agreement, along with sister stations ...

''Diamond''

The follow-up album, ''

Diamond Diamond is a Allotropes of carbon, solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the Chemical stability, chemically stable form of car ...

,'' also produced by Burgess, was released in 1982. This album was certified Gold by the BPI. The band had Burgess remix every single from both albums for inclusion on each single's B-side and for 12-inch club releases. These mixes were later released as a boxed set. However, the second single from ''Diamond'' was "

Paint Me Down "Paint Me Down" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 2 November 1981 as the second single from what would be their second album, ''Diamond''. Their guitarist/songwriter Gary Kemp copied some of the elements of their ...

", which broke their run of top 20 hits by stalling at No.30. The third single, "

She Loved Like Diamond "She Loved Like Diamond" is a song by the English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 11 January 1982 as the third single from what would be their second album, ''Diamond''. The music video and cover art for the single focused on the sexua ...

", failed to make the UK Top 40 at all.

Trevor Horn Trevor Charles Horn (born 15 July 1949) is an English music producer, label and recording studio owner, musician and composer. He is best known for his production work in the 1980s, and for being one half of the new wave band The Buggles (wit ...

remixed the track "Instinction", which was released as the fourth single from the album. Backed with a special dance remix of "Chant No. 1" on the 12-inch single version, the release was very well received. It returned the band to the UK Top 10 after the poor chart performance of their previous two singles.

1983–1989: International success

''True''

The band released their third album, ''

'', in March 1983. Produced by Tony Swain and Steve Jolley, the album featured a slicker pop sound and was recorded at Compass Point in

the Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. It was at this point that Steve Norman began playing saxophone for the band. The

gave the band their first UK No.1 single. It was a multi-format hit in the US, reaching No.1 on the

Adult Contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul, R&B, quie ...

chart, No.4 on the

Billboard Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

and US

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

and also entering the US R&B charts. The band played four sell-out shows at The Wilton and The Palace, Los Angeles, in December 1983. The song was also a No.1 in Ireland and Canada and Top 5 in the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and Spain. It won a BMI award as one of the most played songs in history when it passed four million airplays in the United States, the equivalent of 22 years' continuous play. The follow-up single, "Gold", reached No.2 in the UK and Top 5 in Belgium, Ireland and Spain. The album topped the charts internationally, spent 64 consecutive weeks in the Top 100 albums chart and reached No.19 on the US Billboard 200. The singles "Gold" and "

Communication Communication (from la, communicare, meaning "to share" or "to be in relation with") is usually defined as the transmission of information. The term may also refer to the message communicated through such transmissions or the field of inquir ...

" peaked at No.29 and No.59 in the US Billboard Hot 100. On their UK tour they were the first rock band to play

Sadler's Wells Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue in Clerkenwell, London, England located on Rosebery Avenue next to New River Head. The present-day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500-sea ...

and the

Royal Festival Hall The Royal Festival Hall is a 2,700-seat concert, dance and talks venue within Southbank Centre in London. It is situated on the South Bank of the River Thames, not far from Hungerford Bridge, in the London Borough of Lambeth. It is a Grade I l ...

''Parade'' and Live Aid period

The follow-up album, ''

Parade A parade is a procession of people, usually organized along a street, often in costume, and often accompanied by marching bands, float (parade), floats, or sometimes large balloons. Parades are held for a wide range of reasons, but are usually ce ...

'', was released in June 1984, and its singles were again big successes in the charts in Europe, Oceania and Canada. The album's opening song, "

Only When You Leave "Only When You Leave" is a song by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released as the first single from their fourth album '' Parade''. It peaked at number 3 on the UK Singles Chart and made the top 10 in several other countries but only rea ...

", became the band's last American hit. The band's first Top 10 single in Italy was " I'll Fly For You", a success they repeated later with the singles "Fight For Ourselves" and "

Through the Barricades ''Through the Barricades'' is the fifth studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 17 November 1986 by CBS Records in the United Kingdom and by Epic Records in the United States. The album reached number seven and remain ...

." At the end of 1984, the band performed on the Band Aid charity single alongside chart rivals

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...

Culture Club Culture Club are an English pop band formed in London in 1981. The band comprises Boy George (lead vocals), Roy Hay (guitar and keyboards), Mikey Craig (bass guitar) and formerly included Jon Moss (drums and percussion). Emerging in the New ...

and

Wham! Wham! (briefly known in the US as Wham! U.K.) were an English pop duo formed in Bushey in 1981. The duo consisted of George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley. They became one of the most commercially successful pop acts of the 1980s, selling more ...

and in 1985 performed at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

as part of

to a global audience estimated at 1.9 billion. The "Spandau Ballet World Parade 84–85" was the group's biggest tour to date, spanning Europe, America, the Far East and, for the first time, Australia and New Zealand. Their UK tour ended with six record-breaking nights at Wembley Arena. During the second show at LA's Universal Amphitheatre, Steve Norman tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and the rest of the tour was cancelled. This also resulted in the cancellation of a proposed summer tour of Spain and Italy and a planned six-week tour of the United States supporting The Power Station. During this same year, Spandau Ballet achieved platinum status with the compilation '' The Singles Collection'', which kept the focus on the band between studio albums and celebrated its five years of success. However, the album was released by

without the band's approval and the band instigated legal action against the label.

''Through the Barricades''

After a bitter court case with Chrysalis, Spandau Ballet signed to

CBS Records CBS Records may refer to: * CBS Records or CBS/Sony, former name of Sony Music, a global record company * CBS Records International, label for Columbia Records recordings released outside North America from 1962 to 1990 * CBS Records (2006), founde ...

for £1.5 million in 1986 and released their fifth studio album, ''Through the Barricades''. With producer

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography His career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons and M ...

, the band moved away from their pop and soul influences to create a stadium rock sound. A dispute between

Our Price Records Our Price was a chain of record stores in the United Kingdom and Ireland from 1971 until 2004. History Founded in 1971 by Gary Nesbitt, Edward Stollins and Mike Isaacs, their first store was located in London's Finchley Road. Until 1976, the ...

and Sony over trading arrangements resulted in the Our Price chain and its chart return shops refusing to stock any CBS singles, which affected the record sales of their first single release, "Fight For Ourselves." Though it peaked at 15 in the UK, it was a Top 10 hit in Italy and the Netherlands. The title track, songwriter Gary Kemp and singer Tony Hadley's personal favourite, inspired by the murder of a friend, Thomas 'Kidso' Reilly, in Belfast by a British soldier, reached the Top 10 in the UK and in Europe, as did the album. This was followed in 1986/87 by the band's largest European concert tour to date "Through the Barricades – Across The Borders", with six record-breaking nights at the Ahoy Stadium in Rotterdam, another six nights at London's Wembley Arena, 80,000 at

Casa de Campo The Casa de Campo (, for Spanish: ''Country House'') is the largest public park in Madrid. It is situated west of central Madrid, Spain. It gets its name 'Country House' because it was once a royal hunting estate, located just west of the Ro ...

in Madrid and 50,000 at an open-air concert in Treviso. Tony Hadley and Gary Kemp performed "Through the Barricades" for the Prince's Trust at Wembley Arena with the 'house band' of

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

Midge Ure James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980s ...

and

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 ...

and "

With A Little Help From My Friends "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1967 album '' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and sung by drummer Ringo Starr (as Sgt. Pe ...

" with

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

. In 1988, the band played for the King of Spain in front of the Royal Palace in Barcelona, on the same bill as

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

and

Montserrat Caballé Montserrat Caballé i Folch or Folc (full name: María de Montserrat Bibiana Concepción Caballé i Folch (, , ; (12 April 1933 – 6 October 2018), known simply as Montserrat Caballé, was a Catalan Spanish operatic soprano. She sang a wide va ...

, to launch the campaign for the 1992 Olympics.

''Heart Like a Sky''

After a hiatus from recording, the band released their next album, ''Heart Like a Sky'', initially titled ''Home'', in September 1989. For the first time, new working methods were employed, as Gary Kemp demoed his new songs programming the drums, keyboards and bass on a porta-studio with Toby Chapman, Spandau's session keyboard player, rather than rehearsing with the band. The album and its singles were not successful in the UK and the album was not released in the United States. Nevertheless, the band continued to have success in Germany, Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands, where the singles "Raw" and "Be Free with Your Love" entered the Top 40. The album included "Motivator", the first song written by Steve Norman for the band since The Makers.

1990–1999: Break-up and solo projects

On Tuesday 6 March 1990, the band played the final date of their 10th anniversary tour at Edinburgh Playhouse before taking a break to pursue other acting and musical solo projects. Gary and Martin Kemp took the leading roles as notorious East End gangster twins Ronald and Reginald Kray in ''The Krays'' which premiered in London in April 1990. The film won two

Evening Standard British Film Awards The Evening Standard British Film Awards were established in 1973 by London's ''Evening Standard'' newspaper. The Standard Awards is the only ceremony "dedicated to British and Irish talent," judged by a panel of "top UK critics." Each ceremony ...

for Best Film and Most Promising Newcomer (writer

Philip Ridley Philip Ridley (born 1957 in East London) is an English storyteller working in a wide range of artistic media. As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the 'Young British Artists', and had his artwork exhibited internationally. ...

). Tony Hadley recorded his first solo album in Los Angeles produced by

Ron Nevison Ron Nevison is an American record producer and audio engineer. He started his career in the early 1970s as an engineer on ''Quadrophenia'' by the Who and Bad Company's debut album. He eventually became a producer, working with artists including M ...

. Steve Norman moved to Ibiza to collaborate on chilled out Balearic records with local producers. John Keeble continued as drummer with Tony Hadley and formed his own band, 69 Daze, with former

Sigue Sigue Sputnik Sigue Sigue Sputnik were a British new wave band formed in 1982 by former Generation X bassist Tony James. The band have had three UK top-40 hit singles, including " Love Missile F1-11" and " 21st Century Boy". The band's music, image and in ...

guitarist Neal X, followed by 99 shows across Europe with The Herbs and Pacific with guitarist

John McGeoch John Alexander McGeoch (25 August 1955 – 4 March 2004) was a Scottish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the guitarist of the rock bands Magazine (1977-1980) and Siouxsie and the Banshees (1980-1982). He has been described as one o ...

. Gary Kemp enjoyed further acting success, moving to Hollywood with actor wife

Sadie Frost Sadie Liza Frost (née Vaughan; born 19 June 1965) is an English actress, producer and fashion designer, who ran fashion label Frost French (until its closure in 2011) and a film production company (Blonde to Black Pictures). Early life Frost ...

, to film both ''The Bodyguard'' (with

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

and

Kevin Costner Kevin Michael Costner (born January 18, 1955) is an American actor, producer, film director and musician. He has received various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Screen Actor ...

) and ''

Killing Zoe ''Killing Zoe'' is a 1993 crime film written and directed by Roger Avary and starring Eric Stoltz, Jean-Hugues Anglade and Julie Delpy. The story details a safe cracker named Zed who returns to France to aid an old friend in performing a doomed ...

'', directed by Academy Award winner

Roger Avary Roger Roberts Avary (born August 23, 1965) is a Canadian-American film and television director, screenwriter, and producer. He collaborated with Quentin Tarantino on ''Pulp Fiction'', for which they won Best Original Screenplay at the 67th Acade ...

, produced by

Quentin Tarantino Quentin Jerome Tarantino (; born March 27, 1963) is an American film director, writer, producer, and actor. His films are characterized by stylized violence, extended dialogue, profanity, Black comedy, dark humor, Nonlinear narrative, non-lin ...

. In 1995 Gary released his solo album, ''Little Bruises''. Martin Kemp also appeared in films and TV series in Los Angeles such as ''The Outer Limits,'' ''Murder Between Friends'', Highlander: The Series and Sugar Town which also starred John Taylor from Duran Duran. In the 1990s, the band split up after a disagreement about royalties. Hadley, Norman and Keeble launched an unsuccessful court case against Gary Kemp for a share of Kemp's songwriting royalties from his work with Spandau Ballet. Although they vowed to appeal the verdict, they later decided against this. The three non-Kemp members then continued to tour as a trio, but they had to sell their shares in Spandau Ballet's company to Gary Kemp to pay off legal debts. Because the company owned the rights to the name of Spandau Ballet, the trio had to tour under the moniker "Hadley, Norman and Keeble, ex-Spandau Ballet". After successful surgery for the removal of two brain tumours in the mid-Nineties, Martin Kemp joined ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a Television in the United Kingdom, British soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the Ea ...

'' in 1998 as one of the British soap's most popular bad boy characters, Steve Owen, winning Most Popular Actor at the 2000

National Television Awards The National Television Awards (often shortened to NTAs) is a British television awards ceremony, broadcast by the ITV network and initiated in 1995. The National Television Awards are the most prominent ceremony for which the results are voted ...

and numerous Best Actor and Villain of the Year awards for the

British Soap Awards The British Soap Awards (BSAs) are an annual awards ceremony in the United Kingdom which honours the best moments in British soap operas. The ceremony is televised on ITV and has been presented by Phillip Schofield since 2006. The trophies give ...

, ''Inside Soap'' Awards and

TV Quick Awards ''TV Choice'' is a British weekly TV listings magazine published by H. Bauer Publishing, the UK subsidiary of family-run German company Bauer Media Group.Dido Dido ( ; , ), also known as Elissa ( , ), was the legendary founder and first queen of the Phoenician city-state of Carthage (located in modern Tunisia), in 814 BC. In most accounts, she was the queen of the Phoenician city-state of Tyre (t ...

, continued acting on stage, in film and in television, and wrote music and additional lyrics with Guy Pratt for ''Bedbug'' at the National Theatre in 2004 and ''A Terrible Beauty'', with Guy Pratt and

Shane Connaughton Shane Connaughton (born 4 April 1941 in Kingscourt, County CavanHogan, Sinead.Shane Connaughton brings it all home to his beloved native county ''The Anglo-Celt''. 4-29-2009.) is an Irish writer and actor, probably best known as co-writer of ...

. He continued acting on stage, in film and on television. He played Serge in the West End production of ''Art'' in 2001. Films included ''Dog Eat Dog'' and ''American Daylight'' and TV shows '' Murder in Mind'' and ''Casualty''. Steve Norman formed chilled lounge band Cloudfish with Rafa Peletey and

Shelley Preston Shelley Preston (born 14 May 1964) is a singer who is famous for being a former member of the pop group Bucks Fizz, when she replaced Jay Aston in June 1985. Her biggest hit as a member of the band was the 1986 track " New Beginning", which re ...

in 2001. Tony Hadley released three studio albums. He played Billy Flynn in the West End production of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

and won the ITV reality show,

Reborn in the USA ''Reborn in the USA'' is a British reality television show broadcast on ITV, in which ten British pop acts were transported to the US, where they were supposedly not known in the hope of revitalising their music career. Each week, the American ...

in 2003 singing "Through the Barricades" to beat Michelle Gayle in the final. He appeared as a guest vocalist on the

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician and record producer. Parsons was involved with the production of several notable albums, including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and ''Let It Be'' ( ...

album

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

, performing lead vocals on the song "Out of the Blue".

2009–2019: Reunion

In early 2009, the official Spandau Ballet website encouraged fans to sign up "for an exciting announcement", fuelling rumours that a reunion was imminent.

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 ...

mentioned during his

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

programme on 21 March 2009, that the band were re-forming and that he had been invited to the reunion party. The band confirmed the rumours at a press conference on 25 March 2009, on board HMS ''Belfast'' in London, a return to the venue of one of their first gigs to launch their comeback tour. They were introduced by friend and broadcaster Robert Elms after a Billy's and Blitz era DJ set by

. John Keeble and Gary Kemp revealed current musical influences as

The Killers The Killers are an American rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingd ...

Kaiser Chiefs Kaiser Chiefs are an English indie rock band from Leeds who formed in 2000 as Parva, releasing one studio album, ''22'', in 2003, before renaming and establishing themselves in their current name that same year. Since their formation the band h ...

MGMT MGMT () is an American indie rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. It was founded by multi-instrumentalists Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser. Alongside VanWyngarden and Goldwasser, MGMT's live lineup currently consists of ...

and

Florence and the Machine Florence and the Machine (stylised as Florence + the Machine) are an English indie rock band that formed in London in 2007, consisting of lead vocalist Florence Welch, keyboardist Isabella Summers, guitarist Rob Ackroyd, harpist Tom Monger, and ...

. The band began a world tour in October 2009, starting with eight dates across Ireland and the UK, the first of which was in Dublin on 13 October 2009. The tickets for the UK and Ireland shows went on pre-sale on the official Spandau Ballet website on 25 March 2009. They went on general release on 27 March 2009. For the general release tickets, the London O2 arena tickets sold out within 20 minutes and an extra two dates were added there because of demand. The band also added Liverpool and an extra date in Birmingham to the tour. Members gave their "first public performance and interview anywhere in the world for 19 years" on the BBC television show ''

Friday Night with Jonathan Ross ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' is a British chat show presented by Jonathan Ross and broadcast on BBC One between 2001 and 2010. The programme features Ross' take on current topics of conversation, guest interviews (usually three per show) ...

'' on 24 April 2009 performing "Chant No.1" with the original

Beggar & Co Beggar and Co (also written Beggar & Co) are a British jazz-funk group formed by Kenny Wellington, David Baptiste and Neville 'Breeze' McKrieth, originally members of the group Light of the World. Overview Beggar and Co's first single was "(S ...

and "Gold." On 19 October 2009, the group released a new album, '' Once More'', which featured reworked semi-acoustic versions of 11 Spandau favourites and two new songs, the title track, written by Gary Kemp and Steve Norman, and Love Is All, the first Spandau song to be written by Tony Hadley. The album went Gold in Italy and Silver in the UK. Virgin Media honoured Spandau Ballet as the Best Comeback of 2009 in the Virgin Media Awards. Spandau Ballet went on tour in Australia during April 2010 with

Tears For Fears Tears for Fears are an English pop rock band formed in Bath, England, in 1981 by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith. Founded after the dissolution of their first band, the mod-influenced Graduate, Tears for Fears were associated with the new wav ...

as part of a world tour. After a headline set at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

on the same bill as

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 ...

The Strokes The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

and

Pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

, the group played their last UK show of the Reformation Tour at

Newmarket Racecourse Newmarket Racecourse is a British Thoroughbred horse racing venue in Newmarket, Suffolk, Newmarket, Suffolk, comprising two individual racecourses: the Rowley Mile and the July Course. Newmarket is often referred to as the headquarters of ...

on 25 June 2010. In 2014, all five played live again with an anthology world tour to promote a critically acclaimed feature-length archive-only documentary of the band's story and the pop cultural history of the Eighties, ''Soul Boys of the Western World.'' It world premiered at South By Southwest with Spandau also playing as part of the music festival, their first public appearance in North America since 1985. The band played five numbers for the film's European premiere at the Royal Albert Hall. There were gala screenings in Sydney, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Auckland and Hamburg. The film had a UK cinema release. It was directed by George Hencken, produced by Steve Dagger and Scott Milaney with archive producer Kate Griffiths and included never-before-seen footage of the band playing and being interviewed at NYC's Underground club in March 1981. It was confirmed on 31 July 2014, that Spandau Ballet were working on new material in the studio with

. In the UK, the band appeared in an ITV show, ''Spandau Ballet – True Gold'', in which they performed several hits and were interviewed by

Christine Bleakley Christine Louise Lampard ('' née'' Bleakley, born 2 February 1979) is a Northern Irish broadcaster. She has presented various television programmes with Adrian Chiles, such as ''The One Show'' (2007–2010) and '' Daybreak'' (2010–11), while ...

in front of a studio audience. The band performed their 1980s hit single "

" and a new song called "This is the Love" on ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, California, as part of ABC's lea ...

'' on 11 November 2014. It was their US late-night TV debut and their first US TV appearance since 1985 when they played on ''

Soul Train ''Soul Train'' is an American musical variety television show. It aired in syndication from October 2, 1971, to March 25, 2006. Across its 35-year history the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists. The series w ...

''. They were there to promote their new greatest hits collection called ''The Story – The Very Best of Spandau Ballet'', which also contained three new songs. The album reached the UK Top 10. Both "Steal" and "This Is The Love" appeared on the US Adult Contemporary chart. The band embarked on another world tour in 2015. In January 2015, they appeared on ''

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

'', performing "True". They also appeared on ''The Talk'' on 27 July 2015 to perform "True". On 3 July 2017, Tony Hadley left the band due to, as he stated on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, circumstances beyond his control. The rest of the band released their own statement explaining that Hadley had made it clear to them in September 2016 that he did not want to work with the band any more and that they had now reached the decision "to move on as a band." On 6 June 2018, after a lengthy audition process Spandau Ballet revealed their new lead singer, Ross William Wild, who had previously performed with Martin Kemp in the West End musical ''

Million Dollar Quartet "Million Dollar Quartet" is a recording of an impromptu jam session involving Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash made on December 4, 1956, at the Sun Record Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. An article about the session ...

''. The band played live at Subterania Club in West London, a venue they had last played 40 years earlier in 1978 as Gentry when it was called Acklam Hall. Their first song as the new line-up was "Through the Barricades". Wild said: "If it wasn't for Spandau so much stuff wouldn't have happened. They are pioneers." Spandau Ballet finished the year showcasing Wild with five live gigs abroad (Milan, Rome, Padova, Utrecht, Tilburg) concluding with another at the Eventim Apollo in London on 29 October, and attracted favourable reviews. On 16 October 2018, Hadley played the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in the famous area of Soho. The theatre holds 2,286 seats. Of the roster of stars who have played there, many have televised performances. Between 1955 an ...

with The Tony Hadley Band. Within five months cracks were appearing in Spandau's new line-up. In March 2019, Wild joined a new band called Mercutio, saying: "I can't wait around for Spandau! Unfortunately Gary emphas commitments, so we're waiting him to finish until we crack on." One month later Gary Kemp, touring the US with Nick Mason's band Saucerful of Secrets, said in an interview: "There are no plans for Spandau going into 2020." He said he struggled to imagine Spandau Ballet without Tony Hadley, adding: "I still think that's the ultimate goal". Then on 23 May 2019, Wild tweeted at 6:15am: "I have formally quit the band @SpandauBallet to pursue my own music with my band Mercutio." By 10:30am Martin Kemp was on ITV's ''This Morning'' confirming that Spandau would not be touring "until Tony

adley Adley is a first and last name of English people, English origin. Notable people with the surname Adley include: * Robert Adley (1935–1993), British politician, MP for Bristol NE and later Christchurch * Big Daddy Carlos (born 1968), American res ...

comes back". The next day Spandau thanked Wild via Twitter for "his brilliant performances with them last year and wish him every success with his band, Mercutio". Within the next few days Wild explained further: "I'd put my whole life on hold and was sick of waiting around for them to make up their minds. I told the boys I was quitting and then never heard back from them." The band's sax player Steve Norman also said: "I was neither involved in nor informed of any discussions or decision-making regarding the future of my band, least of all Ross's position in it."

In popular culture

The song "True" has been sampled in many songs including

Queen Pen Lynise Walters (born 1972), known professionally as Queen Pen, is an African American rapper, record producer, and novelist. Born in Brooklyn New York, she was discovered by record producer Teddy Riley at a local iHop restaurant in Virginia B ...

's 1998 hit "It's True" and

Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...

's " 'N' Dey Say" in 2004. It was a No.1 US Billboard Hot 100 hit for

PM Dawn P.M. Dawn was an American hip hop and R&B act that formed in 1988 by the brothers Attrell Cordes (known by his stage name Prince Be, sometimes credited as Prince Be the Nocturnal) and Jarrett Cordes (known as DJ Minutemix) in Jersey City, New ...

in 1991 as "

Set Adrift on Memory Bliss "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" is a song by American hip-hop group P.M. Dawn, released in August 1991 as the second single from their debut album, '' Of the Heart, of the Soul and of the Cross: The Utopian Experience'' (1991). It is built around ...

" and a Top 10 single as "

You In Modern English, ''you'' is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from the Proto- ...

" on the US Billboard Hot 100 for R&B artist Lloyd featuring

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

in 2006. It has also been covered by The

Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...

, Rui da Silva and

Paul Anka Paul Albert Anka (born July 30, 1941) is a Canadian-American singer, songwriter and actor. He is best known for his signature hit songs including " Diana", " Lonely Boy", "Put Your Head on My Shoulder", and " (You're) Having My Baby". Anka also ...

and other artists. "True" is featured in the movies ''

Pixels In digital imaging, a pixel (abbreviated px), pel, or picture element is the smallest addressable element in a raster image, or the smallest point in an all points addressable display device. In most digital display devices, pixels are the sm ...

,'' ''

Sausage Party ''Sausage Party'' is a 2016 adult computer-animated comedy film directed by Conrad Vernon and Greg Tiernan and written by Kyle Hunter, Ariel Shaffir, Seth Rogen, and Evan Goldberg from a story by Rogen, Goldberg, and Jonah Hill. The film follo ...

'', ''

Sixteen Candles ''Sixteen Candles'' is a 1984 American coming-of-age comedy film starring Molly Ringwald, Michael Schoeffling, and Anthony Michael Hall. Written and directed by John Hughes in his directorial debut, it was the first in a string of films Hughes ...

'', '' The Croods: A New Age'', ''

Charlie's Angels ''Charlie's Angels'' is an American crime drama television series that aired on ABC from September 22, 1976, to June 24, 1981, producing five seasons and 115 episodes. The series was created by Ivan Goff and Ben Roberts and was produced by Aa ...

'', '' Crazy Stupid Love'', ''

Hot Tub Time Machine ''Hot Tub Time Machine'' is a 2010 American science-fiction comedy film directed by Steve Pink and starring John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, Clark Duke, Crispin Glover, Lizzy Caplan, and Chevy Chase. The film was released on March 26, ...

'', '' Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging'', ''

50 First Dates ''50 First Dates'' is a 2004 American romantic comedy drama film directed by Peter Segal and starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore with Rob Schneider, Sean Astin and Dan Aykroyd in supporting roles. It follows the story of Henry, a womanizing m ...

'' and ''

The Wedding Singer ''The Wedding Singer'' is a 1998 American romantic comedy film directed by Frank Coraci, written by Tim Herlihy, and produced by Robert Simonds and Jack Giarraputo. The film stars Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, and Christine Taylor, and tells the ...

'' sung by

Steve Buscemi Steven Vincent Buscemi ( ,As stated in interviews by Buscemi himself, some may insist that his pronunciation of his own name is "wrong" because it does not match the original Italian pronunciation as well. It is not uncommon for people to pronou ...

's character. It has featured on TV shows like '' Ashes to Ashes'' and Modern Family (American TV series; Season 1, Episode 8). "To Cut A Long Story Short" was sampled by Shakka on his 2015 single, "

Say Nada "Say Nada" is a song recorded by the British hip hop singer and songwriter Shakka, with Jme. It was released on April 13, 2015, by RME Records as the fourth track from the solo EP, ''The Lost Boys''. The song reached No. 75 on the UK Singles Ch ...

". "Gold" has been used for the Olympics and numerous other sporting events worldwide. The songs have featured in TV shows ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, ...

'', ''

Spin City ''Spin City'' is an American sitcom television series that aired from September 17, 1996 to April 30, 2002, on ABC. Created by Gary David Goldberg and Bill Lawrence, the show is set in a semi-fictionalized version of the New York City mayor's ...

'', ''

Ugly Betty ''Ugly Betty'' is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which was originally broadcast on ABC. It premiered on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian t ...

'', ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffin family, Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter Griff ...

'', ''

Master of None ''Master of None'' is an American comedy-drama streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in con ...

'', '' Suits'', ''

My Mad Fat Diary ''My Mad Fat Diary'' is a British teen drama, teen comedy-drama television series that debuted on E4 (TV channel), E4 on 14 January 2013. It is based on the novel ''My Fat, Mad Teenage Diary'' by Rae Earl. The second series started on 19 Februa ...

'', ''

Misfits Misfits or The Misfits may refer to: Film and television * ''The Misfits'' (1961 film), a film starring Clark Gable, Marilyn Monroe, and Montgomery Clift * ''The Misfits'' (2011 film), a Mexican film * ''The Misfits'' (2021 film), an American ...

'', '' Skins'', ''

Gilmore Girls ''Gilmore Girls'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Amy Sherman-Palladino and starring Lauren Graham (Lorelai Gilmore) and Alexis Bledel (Rory Gilmore). The show debuted on October 5, 2000, on The WB and became a flagshi ...

'', ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses....'' is a British television sitcom created and written by John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Kingdom from 1981 to 1991, with sixteen sporadic Christmas specials aired until t ...

'', ''

The Office ''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries. The original series of ...

'', ''

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'', ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

'' and many others. Spandau Ballet songs have also been used successfully in many advertising campaigns on TV, radio, in-store and internet worldwide for Fernet, Chevy Malibu, Citroen, Flora, Alldays, Virgin, Taco Bell, Halifax, La Caixa & Paddy Power, BT, and many more. Actor

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

appeared on the

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 ...

sitcom ''

Modern Family ''Modern Family'' is an American family sitcom television series created by Christopher Lloyd and Steven Levitan for the American Broadcasting Company. It ran for 11 seasons, from September 23, 2009, to April 8, 2020. It follows the lives of thr ...

'' as Izzy LaFontaine, a fictional bass player/backup vocalist for Spandau Ballet ("between Richard Miller and Martin Kemp"), in the episode "

Great Expectations ''Great Expectations'' is the thirteenth novel by Charles Dickens and his penultimate completed novel. It depicts the education of an orphan nicknamed Pip (Great Expectations), Pip (the book is a ''bildungsroman''; a coming-of-age story). It ...

". The song "Gold" appears in

Rockstar Games Rockstar Games, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in New York City. The company was established in December 1998 as a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, using the assets Take-Two had previously acquired from BMG Interactive. Foun ...

' 2002 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' on the WAVE 103 Station, which plays New Wave and Synthpop songs. DJ Paul Oakenfold created a special 12-inch remix of "Gold" for the 2012 Olympics.

Members

– drums, percussion, backing vocals (1979–1990, 2009–2019) *

– lead guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, piano, backing vocals (1979–1990, 2009–2019) *

– bass guitar, guitar, backing vocals (1979–1990, 2009–2019) *

– saxophones, wind synthesizer, guitar, percussion, keyboards, backing vocals (1979–1990, 2009–2019) *

– lead vocals, keyboards, synthesizers, percussion (1979–1990, 2009–2017) * Ross William Wild – lead vocals (2018–2019)

Discography

*''

'' (1981) *''

'' (1982) *''

'' (1983) *''

'' (1984) *''

'' (1986) *''

Heart Like a Sky ''Heart Like a Sky'' is the sixth studio album by English new wave band Spandau Ballet, released on 18 September 1989 by CBS Records. The album was mainly distributed in continental Europe. It was the group's last release before disbanding and ...

'' (1989) *'' Once More'' (2009)

Awards and nominations

Q Awards

The

Q Awards The Q Awards were the UK's annual music awards run by the music magazine '' Q''. Since they began in 1990, the Q Awards became one of Britain's biggest and best publicised music awards. Locations for the awards ceremony included Abbey Road Studios ...

are hosted annually by the music magazine '' Q''. Spandau Ballet has received one award. , - , 2009 , Spandau Ballet , The Q Idol ,

BRIT Awards

The

BRIT Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

are the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

's annual pop music awards. Spandau Ballet has received one award from one nomination. , - , 1984 , Spandau Ballet , The Sony Award For Technical Excellence ,

Ivor Novello Awards

The

Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

are awards for songwriting and composing, presented annually in London. , - , 2012 , Gary Kemp , Outstanding Song Collection ,

Literature

* * * *

References

External links

* {{Authority control Brit Award winners British soul musical groups British synth-pop new wave groups Chrysalis Records artists Columbia Records artists English new wave musical groups English synth-pop groups English pop music groups Epic Records artists Mercury Records artists Musical groups disestablished in 1990 Musical groups established in 1979 Musical groups reestablished in 2009 Musical groups disestablished in 2019 Musical groups from London Parlophone artists Sophisti-pop musical groups Second British Invasion artists

History

1976–1982: Formation and early success

''Journeys to Glory''

''Diamond''

1983–1989: International success

''True''

''Parade'' and Live Aid period

''Through the Barricades''

''Heart Like a Sky''

1990–1999: Break-up and solo projects

2009–2019: Reunion

In popular culture

Members

Discography

Awards and nominations

Q Awards

BRIT Awards

Ivor Novello Awards

See also

Literature

References

External links