Leo Sayer
Gerard Hugh "Leo" Sayer (born 21 May 1948)[2] is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009.
For the 1978 self-titled album, see Leo Sayer (album).
Leo Sayer
Gerard Hugh Sayer
21 May 1948
Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England
- Musician
- singer
- songwriter
Early 1970s–present
- Chrysalis (UK)
- Warner Bros., Rhino (US)
- Universal (AUS)
Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s, and he became a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in the 1970s.[3] His first seven hit singles in the United Kingdom all reached the Top 10 – a feat first accomplished by his first manager, Adam Faith.[3] His songs have been sung by other notable artists, including Cliff Richard ("Dreaming"), Roger Daltrey, and Three Dog Night.[4]
Early life[edit]
Sayer was born and brought up in Shoreham-by-Sea in Sussex to Thomas E. G. Sayer and the former Theresa Nolan as the second of three sons (Michael was born in 1939 and Brian in 1951). His father was English and his mother was born in Maguiresbridge, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland. He was raised on her father's small farm at Edenmore, a townland near the hamlet of Killesher, also in County Fermanagh.[5][6]
Sayer attended St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Shoreham-by-Sea and then Blessed Robert Southwell (now St Oscar Romero Catholic School) in Goring-by-Sea,[7] before studying commercial art and graphic design at West Sussex College of Art and Design in Worthing, Sussex.[8]
Sayer was initially discovered by musician David Courtney, who then co-managed and co-produced him with former pop singer Adam Faith.[2] In January 1967, while 18-year-old Sayer was working as a hall porter at the King's Hotel in Hove, he assisted in the rescue of elderly guests from a serious fire that damaged the hotel's first floor. He himself was rescued from the blazing hotel by builders working on a block of flats beside the hotel.[9]