Curated playlist

English pop singers

AdeleA friend posted Adele's three-song class demo on Myspace, and a record label phoned.
George MichaelGeorge Michael refused to appear in his own music videos, so five supermodels lip-synced in his place.
Ed SheeranEd Sheeran bought a thirty-pound guitar two days after hearing Eric Clapton. He was eleven years old.
Cat StevensCat Stevens sold more than 100 million records before he walked away from pop music. A 25-year break followed.
Chris MartinChris Martin, the English singer and pianist born on the 2nd of March 1977, composed a three-minute instrumental called "Electric Thunder" when he was 12 years old. In February 2020, a former fellow pupil found it on a cassette tape.…
Johnny GentleJohnny Gentle once toured Scotland with the unknown Silver Beetles. They later became the Beatles.
Matty HealyA paperback copy of Jack Kerouac's On the Road gave Matty Healy's band its name. Scribbles inside the book were dated "the 1st of June, The 1975", and in 2012 the group settled on that as its title. Healy was born Matthew Timothy Healy on…
Zayn MalikZayn Malik was 17 years old and did not want to go to his X Factor audition in Manchester. On the morning of the tryout in 2010, nerves had won, and he wanted to stay in bed. His mother got him up and talked him into going. Years later he…
Louis TomlinsonIn December 2016, Louis Tomlinson stood on the stage of The X Factor thirteenth series final and performed a song released that very day. A few days earlier, his mother had died. He dedicated the performance to her, and he still regards…
Boy GeorgeBoy George, born George Alan O'Dowd, walked into Sarm West Studios in Notting Hill on the 25th of November 1984 with jet lag still on him. He had come straight from Heathrow Airport after a transatlantic flight on Concorde. At 6 pm he…
Julian LennonJulian Lennon's nursery school painting inspired a Beatles song. It showed his classmate Lucy O'Donnell among stars.