Paul Young (17 June 1947 – 15 July 2000) was a British singer and songwriter. He achieved success in the bands

Sad Café Sad Café are an English rock music, rock band formed in Manchester in 1976, who achieved their peak of popularity in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They are best known for the UK top 40 singles "Every Day Hurts", "Strange Little Girl", "My Oh ...

and Mike + the Mechanics.

Life and career

Young was born on 17 June 1947 in the

Wythenshawe Wythenshawe () is an area of Manchester, England. Historically part of Cheshire, in 1931 Wythenshawe was transferred to the City of Manchester, which had begun building a large housing estate there in the 1920s. With an area of approximately , ...

district of Manchester, England. Young was a member of The Toggery Five in the 1960s. The Manchester-based band signed a recording contract, played in Germany, and released the single "I'm Gonna Jump". After The Toggery Five disbanded, Young became the lead singer of the band Gyro in the mid-1970s. Young and Gyro bandmate Ian Wilson, together with members of Mandalaband, formed the band

in 1976. Sad Café signed with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

in the U.K. The band's single, " Every Day Hurts" (1979), was a no. 3 hit on the British charts. The band also hit the UK Top 40 with "Strange Little Girl", " My Oh My" and "I'm in Love Again", and had two US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 hits with "Run Home Girl" and "La-Di-Da". Young enjoyed further chart success sharing lead vocal duties with

Paul Carrack Paul Melvyn Carrack (born 22 April 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter and composer who has recorded as both a solo artist and as a member of several popular bands. The BBC dubbed Carrack "The Man with the Golden Voice", while '' ...

in Mike + The Mechanics, the pop-rock band formed in 1985 by Genesis guitarist

Mike Rutherford Michael John Cloete Crawford Rutherford (born 2 October 1950) is an English guitarist, bassist and songwriter, best known as co-founder, lead guitarist and bassist of the rock band Genesis (band), Genesis. He and keyboardist Tony Banks (musici ...

. He was brought into Mike + the Mechanics on the recommendation of producer/songwriter Christopher Neil and Neil's manager.Neer, Dan (1985). ''Mike on Mike'' nterview LP Atlantic Recording Corporation. ''Mike + the Mechanics'' scored three Top 40 hits, including two US Top 10s, " Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)" and " All I Need Is a Miracle". The single " The Living Years" (US#1, UK#2) became the band's biggest hit, and featured on the band's second album '' Living Years''. During Young's career, he provided lead vocals on several chart hits, including Sad Café's "Every Day Hurts" and "My Oh My", and Mike + The Mechanics' "All I Need Is a Miracle", " Word of Mouth", " Taken In" and "Nobody's Perfect". Young possessed a wide vocal range, often utilising fifth octave head voice notes, and a voice characterised as "rich". His early style has been likened to that of

Mick Jagger Sir Michael Philip Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician. He is known as the lead singer and one of the founder members of The Rolling Stones. Jagger has co-written most of the band's songs with lead guitarist Keith Richards; Jagge ...

; in the early 1980s, he began to explore a more "emotive" style.DeGagne, Mike
''Mike + The Mechanics'' review

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. Retrieved 17 May 2013. On 15 July 2000, having no symptoms, Young had a sudden

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at around 6:30pm at his home in Hale,

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, and died shortly afterwards at 53 years old. An

autopsy An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of deat ...

revealed that the cause of death was a heart attack and that "it was not the first".

Legacy

said of Young, "He had a fantastic voice, one of the best rock voices of his generation ... a complete natural." Former

Marillion Marillion are a British neo-prog band, formed in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, in 1979. They emerged from the post-punk music scene in Britain and existed as a bridge between the styles of punk rock and classic progressive rock, becoming the mo ...

vocalist and 1980s chart peer

Fish A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...

described him as "one of the finest frontmen and singers from the history of the British music scene", who exhibited "immense personality, glowing charisma and outrageous positivism".

Discography

The Young Brothers * 1968 "I've Always Wanted Love"/"Mirror, Mirror" (single) Young & Renshaw * 1971 ''"This Is Young & Renshaw"'' (album) Paul Young * 1974 "I Can't Live Without You" (single) * 2011 ''Chronicles'' (album) * 2011 "Your Shoes" (single)

References

External links

BBC news
report on his death {{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Paul 1947 births 2000 deaths English male singers English rock singers English pop singers British soft rock musicians Mike + The Mechanics members Singers from Manchester People from Wythenshawe 20th-century English singers People educated at Ducie Technical High School for Boys 20th-century English male singers