Tony Hadley


Anthony Patrick Hadley MBE is an English singer-songwriter, occasional stage actor and radio presenter. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New Romantic band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990.
Hadley is known for his suave image, as well as his powerful voice, which has been described by AllMusic as a "dramatic warble". Music journalist and author Dave Rimmer described his voice as "like a foghorn—if a foghorn could be imagined trying to emulate both Frank Sinatra| Sinatra and David Bowie| Bowie". His Spandau Ballet bandmate Steve Norman described him as having "a massive vocal range". According to Tim Rice, Hadley has a "strong and expressive voice that few of his contemporaries came near to matching".

Early life

Anthony Patrick Hadley was born the first of three children at the Royal Free Hospital in Hampstead, North London. He has a sister, Lee, and a brother, Steve. His father, Patrick Hadley, worked as an electrical engineer for the Daily Mail, and his mother, Josephine, worked for the local health authority.

Spandau Ballet

Hadley co-founded Spandau Ballet in 1976 as The Cut, with Gary Kemp, Steve Norman, John Keeble and Michael Ellison, all of whom were students at Dame Alice Owen's Grammar School. As a member of Spandau Ballet, Hadley went on to enjoy international success in the 1980s, including hits such as "True", "Gold" and "Through the Barricades", as well as appearing at Live Aid in 1985. Spandau Ballet disbanded in 1989 after their final studio album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True and Parade. Heart Like a Sky was not released in the United States.
In April 1999, Hadley, along with fellow band members Steve Norman and John Keeble, failed in their attempt to sue Gary Kemp, the band's principal songwriter, for a share of his royalties. On 25 March 2009, it was confirmed that the band had reformed and were embarking on a tour of the UK and Ireland in October 2009.

Solo career

1989–2000

song "True" was sampled by the American Hip Hop Music Act P.M. Dawn in their song "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" released in their first album Of The Heart, Of The Soul and Of The Cross: The Utopian Experience released in 1991. Hadley also featured a cameo in the music video. "Set Adrift on Memory Bliss" achieved immediate commercial success. The single hit #1 the week of November 30, 1991, and is the first #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 chart following the introduction of Nielsen SoundScan to the chart. The song also reached #3 in the United Kingdom.
After Spandau Ballet disbanded, Hadley pursued a solo career, signing to EMI and recording his first album, The State of Play, in 1992. After leaving EMI, Hadley formed his own record company, SlipStream Records, and his first release was the single "Build Me Up", from the film When Saturday Comes. Shortly after that, in December 1996, Hadley embarked on an orchestral tour of Europe, along with Joe Cocker, Paul Michiels, Dani Klein and Guo Yue, playing to 500,000 concertgoers in six weeks.
On his return from that tour, Hadley signed a joint deal with PolyGram TV, and released his next eponymous solo album, Tony Hadley, in 1997, which included covers and songs that were chosen to match his voice. The album also featured some of his own self-penned songs, such as "She", which he wrote for daughter Toni.
In 1996, Hadley performed in a BBC Radio 2 live performance of Jesus Christ Superstar, playing the title role opposite Roger Daltrey's Judas.
To plug the gap between studio albums, Hadley also released Obsession, a live album recorded in just one night in 2001 at the club Ronnie Scott's in Birmingham.
He also collaborated, in the past and present, with various dance acts and DJs, such as Tin Tin Out, Eddie Lock, Marc et Claude, Regi Penxten and the Disco Bros, and played alongside people such as Alice Cooper, Paul Young, Jon Anderson, and Brian May. In 1999 Alan Parsons chose him as lead singer for the track "Out of the Blue" on the album The Time Machine. Hadley's usual band line up features John Keeble, Phil Taylor, Phil Williams, Richie Barrett, and Dawn Joseph on backing vocals. His early band, with whom he realised his debut album, included instead, besides himself and Keeble, Spandau Ballet's regular keyboard player, Toby Chapman, Jerry Stevenson and Kevin Miller.

2000–present

Hadley was the subject of some newfound respect in the 2000s, rooted in an "ironic" appreciation for Spandau Ballet; John Darnielle of the indie folk rock group The Mountain Goats wrote about his admiration for Hadley's vocal strengths.
In 2000, Hadley's solo greatest hits album was issued, entitled Debut, made up of some early solo songs.
in 2005|left
Hadley has continued with a busy performing schedule and also toured with both Cox and Martin Fry from the band ABC. He released a jazz-swing album in 2006, titled Passing Strangers, and traveled on a "by request" tour from March to May 2006. This was followed by a big band tour later the same year.
Hadley performed a set with other 1980s acts at Retro Fest on 1 September 2007 at Culzean Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland. This appearance included a rendition of "Addicted to Love", with Fry and Cox.
In February 2008, Hadley took part in the Italian Sanremo Festival, where he duetted in both English and Italian with contestant Paolo Meneguzzi on Meneguzzi's song, "Grande", during the third day of the contest. On 22 February 2008, he performed as an interval act at the semi-final of Dora 2008, the selection of the Croatian entry for the Eurovision Song Contest.
Hadley has said that his solo career has been more financially rewarding than his period at the top of the charts with Spandau Ballet. He stated that 2008 was his best-ever earning year, having performed in over 220 shows.
In 2013, Hadley and his 1980s chart peers Kim Wilde, Bananarama and Go West set a new world record for Comic Relief when they performed the highest ever gig, singing on a Boeing 767 aeroplane at 43,000 ft.
In 2014, Hadley took part in the prime-time RAI TV show :it:La pista|La Pista as team leader of the Tacco 10 female dance troupe. Over the course of the competition, Hadley performed both Spandau Ballet's "Gold", as well as "Rio", originally a hit for rival band Duran Duran. Other well known singer-contestants that took part in the weekly show included Amii Stewart and Sabrina Salerno.
On 3 July 2017, Tony Hadley announced on Twitter that due to circumstances beyond his control, he was no longer a member of Spandau Ballet.

Other work and Awards

Hadley worked as a radio presenter with Virgin Radio, taking over the Friday Night Virgin Party Classics show from Suggs in August 2007. In January 2008, he was given the Saturday Night Virgin Party Classics show as well. He left both shows in September 2008. In 2015 he was listed as a presenter for Absolute Radio and presented Tony Hadley's 80's Party on a Saturday night from 6.00 - 8.00pm on Absolute 80s until December 2019..
Hadley appeared, sang and gave advice in Pinoy Dream Academy, a singing reality show in the Philippines. He also appeared in RocKwiz, an Australian TV programme that aired in November 2008.
Hadley also appeared in the British short movie Shoot The DJ, in which he plays Eddie Richards. The film also featured Hadley's daughter, Toni. Hadley's song "After All This Time" was used as the theme song for the popular BBC series Down to Earth, which ran from 2000 until 2005.
Hadley took part in the 2015 series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!, beginning on 10 November 2015. He was eliminated on 4 December, finishing in sixth place.
In 2019, Hadley started presenting the Sunday Mid Morning Show on BBC Three Counties Radio. He also performed alongside Arisa in the fourth show of the Sanremo Music Festival 2019.
He is a patron of the UK Huntington's Disease Association, Shooting Star Chase and The Lowe Syndrome Trust. In December 2019 it was announced that he had been awarded a Members of the Order of the British Empire in the New Years honours list for charitable services to Shooting Star Chase Children's Hospice Care.

Personal life

Hadley has three children with his first wife, Leonie Lawson: Tom, Toni and Mackenzie. Hadley split from Lawson in 2003, after 20 years of marriage, and married Alison Evers in July 2009 at Cliveden House. They live in Buckinghamshire with their two children: Zara and Genevieve.
Hadley is an Arsenal fan and has played for the Arsenal ex-Professional and Celebrity XI team. He also runs, and enjoys skiing.
Hadley stated on the television show Loose Women that he is and. He is proud of his work ethic, which he states was instilled into him from a young age by his parents, and he says he has never claimed benefits.
In 2006, Hadley became a co-owner of the Red Rat Craft Brewery, which produced Hadley's Golden Ale and Hadley's Crazy Dog Stout. The business closed in 2013, after which Hadley became associated with The Great Yorkshire Brewery, which issued a lager called "Gold" and a pale ale called "Moonstone IPA". This association has now ended.

Political affiliations

Hadley is a supporter of the Conservative Party and an admirer of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. He has attended the party's annual conference and was once reported to be interested in standing as an MP. The New Statesman has described Hadley as one of the few openly right-wing rock stars.

Discography

Studio albums

Appearances

Young Voices, Genting Arena, Birmingham the largest children's choir in the world, 2018 & 2020

Literature