Glenn Gregory

Glenn Gregory
File:Glenn Gregory 2014.jpg Gregory performing in June 2014
Background information
Birth name	Glenn Peter Gregory
Born	(1958-05-16) 16 May 1958
Origin	Sheffield, England
Genres	Electronic synthpop new wave
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals keyboards saxophone bass guitar
Years active	1979–present
Labels	Virgin Just Music

Glenn Peter Gregory (16 May 1958) is an English singer and musician. A founding member and the frontman of Heaven 17, he co-wrote and sang lead vocals on hit records such as "Temptation" and "Come Live with Me".

Early years

Glenn Gregory was the only son of a steel worker and grew up in Sheffield. As a teenager, he wanted to be an actor, but ended up working in London as a photographer instead.

Gregory had known the founding members of The Human League for many years. He had been singing and playing bass guitar in bands with Ian Craig Marsh since 1973. In early 1981 he was contacted by Martyn Ware after the original membership of The Human League split, and was asked to join Heaven 17, a new band resulting from the split.

Music career

The band Heaven 17 included the trio of Martyn Ware, Ian Craig Marsh and Gregory as frontman and vocalist. The band issued eight studio albums and had several hits in the UK, including "Crushed by the Wheels of Industry," "Temptation," "Come Live With Me," and "Let Me Go." However, by the late 1980s their popularity had declined. The group broke up in 1988, but reunited in 1996 and played their first ever live concert in 1997. Marsh left the band in 2007, but Ware and Gregory continued to perform as Heaven 17.

In 1984 Gregory contributed to the Band Aid single, "Do They Know It's Christmas?", singing the line "No rain nor rivers flow".

Outside of Heaven 17, Gregory has been a member of the bands Ugly and Honeyroot, as well as working with ABC, Tina Turner, Grace Jones, Propaganda, Terence Trent D'Arby, Ultravox, La Roux and John Lydon. He has also established a career in soundtrack music, writing for radio, TV and film. He creates scores in a private studio built at the bottom of his garden.

Personal life

In 1983 Gregory married singer Sarah Osborne of the Belgian pop group Allez Allez, but the two divorced after about three years. Gregory then married his second wife Lindsay who works for a design company. The couple have a son named Louis Earl, called Louie, and a whippet dog.

External links

• Audio interview with Glenn Gregory and Martyn Ware on the Sodajerker On Songwriting podcast