Roy Wood

Roy Wood is an English singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s as a member and co-founder of the rock groups The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. Roy Wood was born on November 8, 1946, in Kitts Green, a suburb of Birmingham, England. Wood started performing at a young age, he attended lessons for his first instrument the drums but was self-taught on the piano, horn, cello, guitar, bass, and bagpipes. At just six years old Wood played a song with the big band at his sister's wedding. Roy took up guitar at the age of twelve and formed a group called The Falcons at the age of fourteen. He left the group in 1963 to work professionally with Gerry Levene and the Avengers, moving on to work with Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders or the Idle Race. Wood attended the Moseley College of Art, until 1964, throughout this time Wood began songwriting. In 1966, at the young age of seventeen, he co-founded the rock group The Move. Wood found major success with his formation of The Move along with fellow musicians Carl Wayne, Bev Bevan, Ace Kefford, and Trevor Burton.

Roy was the main songwriter for the rock group, their first single, "Night of Fear" immediately landed the band in the UK Top 5. The Move earned another nine UK Top 20 hits over the next five years, with songs all written by Wood including "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", and "Flowers In The Rain", the first record ever played on BBC's Radio One station, "Fire Brigade" and the chart-topping piece, "Blackberry Way". After the departure of The Move's lead singer Carl Wayne, Wood became the frontman of the band. Roy was one of the driving forces of glam rock in the UK in the 60s and 70s, he frequently experimented musically, often combining rock and roll and pop music with other styles, such as classical music, or big band style. He also introduced classically styled string and brass sections into pop recordings. In 1970, Roy teamed up with Birmingham songwriter Jeff Lynne, who joined The Move for their final two albums, their final single "California Man ", reached No. 10. on the charts. During the 70s Wood also completed some solo work, in early 1972, his composition "Songs of Praise" was shortlisted by the BBC as one of six possible choices for the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972. Wood released "Songs of Praise", on the B-side of his 1973 single, "Dear Elaine,” which entered the Top 10. U.K. chart. Wood had another Top 10. single that year “Forever " which reached number 8 on the charts.

By the late 1970s, Wood was appearing less in public but remained active in the studio as a musician, producer, and songwriter. Wood produced for other acts including doo-wop revivalists Darts, and in 1976, Wood recorded the Beatles' songs "Lovely Rita" and "Polythene Pam" for the musical documentary All This and World War II. Getting back to performing and writing, in 1977, Wood formed the Wizzo Band, a jazz-rock ensemble, but the group split the following year. Between 1980 and 1982, Wood performed and released a few singles under his own name and also as Roy Wood's Helicopters. Wood also made a one-off rock and roll medley single "We Are The Boys" in 1983 under the name The Rockers. After a hiatus following the release of the album Starting Up in 1987, Wood toured with a band under the name Roy Wood's Army. Wood released a new live version of his most popular piece the seasonal Wizzard single "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", in 1995 under 'Roy Wood Big Band' which charted at No. 59. In 2000 he also joined forces with Mike Batt and the Wombles, to re-work a medley of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and the Wombles' hit "Wombling Merry Christmas", which reached No. 22 on the chartsin Christmas 2007. Wood formed the Roy Wood Rock & Roll Band in 2011 and still performs today in the UK.He currently lives in Cubley, Derbyshire.

Throughout his career Wood has earned many accomplishments, including the Ivor Novello Award for Most Outstanding Song Collection, the Kerrang Songwriter Award, Rock Radio's Classic Songwriter Award, and Mojo Honours List Classic Songwriter Award. The BBC has described Wood as being "responsible for some of the most memorable sounds of the Seventies" and "credited as playing a major role in the glam rock, psychedelic and prog rock movements". In 2008, Wood was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to rock and pop by the University of Derby. In 2015, his long and eclectic career was recognized with the "Outer Limits" award at the Progressive Music Awards in London. Wood was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of the Electric Light Orchestra. Wood has written more than thirty U.K. top 30 chart singles including three UK No. 1 hits. and is one of the few people to have written and performed on number-one hits with three different acts, The Move, Wizzard, and Jive Bunny.