Roy Ernest Hay (born 12 August 1961) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead guitarist, keyboardist, and backing vocalist of the new wave band

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 ...

. Hay, a trained

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

since the age of five, replaced founding member Johnny Suede in 1981. Some of Hay's musical influences were

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...

The Isley Brothers The Isley Brothers ( ) are an American musical group originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, that began as a vocal trio consisting of brothers O'Kelly Isley Jr., Rudolph Isley and Ronald Isley in the 1950s. With a career spanning over seven decade ...

and

Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock band formed in London in 1968. The group comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham. With a heavy, guitar-driven sound, they are ...

. Before his involvement with Culture Club, Hay was a

hairdresser A hairdresser is a person whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques. A Hairdresser may also be re ...

in his native Essex. It was during Culture Club's beginnings that Hay met Alison Green. The two married in 1982. According to the "Culture Club" episode the

VH-1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communi ...

series ''

Behind the Music ''Behind the Music'' is a documentary television series on VH1. Each episode profiles and interviews a popular musical artist or group. The program examines the beginning of their career, their road to success, and the hardships they may have ...

'', Hay assisted Boy George in giving up heroin. The singer suffered the painful withdrawal symptoms closely attended by Hay in his Essex home. Following Culture Club, Hay formed another band, called This Way Up, with singer Robinson Reid. In 1987, they released three

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

: "Tell Me Why", "If I Can't Have You" and "Louise". An album, ''Feeling Good About It'', was released in some European countries and in Japan in 1987. Of those records, "Tell Me Why" charted, for one week at number 72 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Hay moved to Los Angeles, U.S. in 1989 and from there wrote for and produced young artists and bands for

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainmen ...

. He branched into commercial composing and sound design with his own company Haywired Music. Hay found later success as a

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

in Hollywood,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, working with fellow composer

Hans Zimmer Hans Florian Zimmer (; born 12 September 1957) is a German film score composer and music producer. He has won two Oscars and four Grammys, and has been nominated for two Emmys and a Tony. Zimmer was also named on the list of Top 100 Living G ...

and composing the music for a series directed by Robert Altman, as well as the music for '' Cracker'' and for Stephen King's '' The Dead Zone''. Hay reunited with the three original members of Culture Club in 1998 to record a new album. In a ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its ...

'' interview, Hay described the years apart as a healing process. "There was obviously a bit of a healing process that needed to happen between Jon ossand George. They hadn't really spoken to each other in quite a while". The description of the tour was "Older and wiser...We've all been through some good and bad times since the band. I think we've all grown up a bit".Hay prepares for Culture Club reunion - ''Rolling Stone''
/ref>

Literature

* International Who`s Who of Popular Music, Europa Publications Limited, London, p. 224,

Citations

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hay, Roy 1961 births Living people English new wave musicians English rock guitarists English rock keyboardists English expatriates in the United States Grammy Award winners Culture Club members People from Southend-on-Sea