Steve Hogarth
Steve Hogarth (born Ronald Stephen Hoggarth, 14 May 1956),[1] also known as "h", is an English musician. Since 1989, he has been the lead singer of the rock band Marillion, for which he also performs additional keyboards and guitar. Hogarth was formerly a keyboard player and co-lead vocalist with the Europeans and vocalist with How We Live. AllMusic has described Hogarth as having a "unique, expressive voice" with "flexible range and beautiful phrasing".[2]
Steve Hogarth
Ronald Stephen Hoggarth
h
14 May 1956
Kendal, Westmorland, England
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- Vocals
- keyboard
- guitar
1977–present
- Harlow
- The Neutrinos
- The Europeans
- How We Live
- The h-Band
Early life[edit]
Hogarth was born in Kendal, Westmorland, England. His father was an engineer in the British Merchant Navy. He was brought up on a council estate in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, from the age of two. As a child he became interested in music, his earliest influences being the Beatles and the Kinks, and taught himself to play piano.[3]
Leaving school at the age of eighteen, Hogarth spent three years studying for a degree in electrical engineering at Trent Polytechnic (now Nottingham Trent University).[3] He was also a member of a band during this time, Harlow, who played working men's clubs. They recorded the single "Harry de Mazzio" on the Pepper record label, which Hogarth wrote and later described as "dreadful" and "definitely the worst record I ever made."[4] The band split in 1981 and Hogarth left his engineering degree, moving to London to further his music career.[3]
Personal life[edit]
Hogarth has three children: a daughter named Sofi and a son named Nial with his first wife Sue,[9] and a son named Emil from his current relationship with Linette, who is from Denmark.[10][11]
Hogarth is violently allergic to cats, first learning this when hospitalised as a child after visiting a Liverpudlian Auntie "...whose house was full of 'em!". Marillion bass player Pete Trewavas had cats in January 1989 when they had their first meeting so Hogarth could not enter his house.[12]
He is a fan of the football club Manchester United.[13][14]
Musical inspirations[edit]
In an interview for HuffPost in 2012, Hogarth cited the Blue Nile, Paddy McAloon, Mike Scott, John Lennon, David Bowie and Joni Mitchell as musical inspirations, and Peter Gabriel, Sting and Massive Attack as artists he would like to work with. On Sting, Hogarth commented: "It's weird how few artists mention Sting and pull him out but he's such a brilliant talent."[15]
