Jeff Lynne
Jeffrey Lynne OBE (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and currently the sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and as a songwriter has written most of the band's hits, including "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Hold On Tight".
Jeff Lynne
- Musician
- singer-songwriter
- record producer
1963–present
2
- Vocals
- guitar
- bass
- keyboards
- drums
Lynne was born in Birmingham and became interested in music during his youth, being heavily inspired by the Beatles. He began his music career in 1963 as a member of the Andicaps, leaving the group a year later to join the Chads. From 1966 to 1970, he was a founder member of and principal songwriter of the Idle Race. In 1970, he accepted Roy Wood's offer to join the Move, going on to contribute heavily to the band's last two albums. Later that year, Lynne, Wood and Bev Bevan formed the band ELO as a side project to which they intended to devote most of their energies, out of their desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Following Wood's departure from ELO in 1972, Lynne assumed sole leadership of the band and wrote, arranged and produced virtually all of its subsequent records. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album Out of the Blue (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of the British chart: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science fiction–themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986, Lynne disbanded the group after losing interest in it. Lynne produced all fifteen ELO singles that rose to the Top 10 record charts in the UK.
After ELO's original disbandment in 1986, Lynne released two solo albums: Armchair Theatre (1990) and Long Wave (2012). Additionally, he began producing various artists. In 1988, under the pseudonyms Otis Wilbury and Clayton Wilbury, he co-founded the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Tom Petty. Lynne co-produced the Beatles' Anthology reunion singles from John Lennon demos, "Free as a Bird" (1995), "Real Love" (1996), and "Now and Then" (2023). In 2014, Lynne re-formed ELO and resumed concert touring under the name "Jeff Lynne's ELO". Outside of ELO, Lynne's producing credits include the UK or US Top 10 albums Cloud Nine (Harrison, 1987), Mystery Girl (Orbison, 1989), Full Moon Fever (Petty, 1989), Into the Great Wide Open (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, 1991), Flaming Pie (Paul McCartney, 1997) and Get Up! (Bryan Adams, 2015).
In 2014, Lynne received a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars, and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the following year. He received three Ivor Novello Awards, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music.[1] In 2017, Lynne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ELO,[2] and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020.
Early life[edit]
Lynne was born in Erdington,[3] Birmingham, England, to Nancy and Philip Lynne, and grew up nearby in Shard End, Birmingham, where he attended Alderlea Boys' Secondary School.[4] As a native of Birmingham, he still has his Brummie accent.[5] His father bought him his first guitar, an acoustic instrument, for £2.[6] He was still playing it as of 2012.[6]