Richard Thompson (musician)

For other people named Richard Thompson, see Richard Thompson (disambiguation).

Richard Thompson
OBE
Thompson performing in 2007
Thompson performing in 2007
Background information
Birth nameRichard John Thompson
Born (1949-04-03) 3 April 1949 (age 75)
Notting Hill, London, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Singer
  • songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active1967–present
Labels
Member ofThompson
Formerly of
Spouses
  • ​
    ​
    (m. 1972; div. 1982)​
  • Nancy Covey
    ​
    ​
    (m. 1985; div. 2019)​
    [1]
Zara Phillips
​
(m. 2021)​
[2]
Websiterichardthompson-music.com
FamilyTeddy Thompson (son)
Kamila Thompson (daughter)
Zak Hobbs (grandson)

Richard Thompson OBE (born 3 April 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist.[3]

Thompson first gained prominence in the late 1960s as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the folk rock group Fairport Convention, which he had co-founded in 1967. After departing the group in 1971, Thompson released his debut solo album Henry the Human Fly in 1972. The next year, he formed a duo with his wife Linda Thompson, which produced six albums, including the critically acclaimed I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974) and Shoot Out the Lights (1982). After the dissolution of the duo, Thompson revived his solo career with the release of Hand of Kindness in 1983. He has released eighteen solo studio albums. Three of his albums—Rumor and Sigh (1991), You? Me? Us? (1996), and Dream Attic (2010)—have been nominated for Grammy Awards,[4] while Still (2015) was his first UK Top Ten album. He continues to write and record new material and has frequently performed at venues throughout the world, although the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to suspend his touring.

Music critic Neil McCormick described Thompson as "a versatile virtuoso guitarist and a sharp observational singer-songwriter whose work burns with intelligence and dark emotion".[5] His songwriting has earned him an Ivor Novello Award[6] and, in 2006, a lifetime achievement award from BBC Radio.[6][7] His 1991 song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" was included in Time magazine's "All-TIME 100 Songs" list of the best English-language musical compositions released between 1923 and 2011.[8] Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to music.[9] Many varied musicians have recorded Thompson's compositions.[10][11]

His memoir, Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice, 1967–1975, was published in 2021.

  1. ^ Denselow, Robin (30 September 2019). "Richard Thompson at 70: on love, loss and being a Muslim in Trump's US". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 30 September 2019.
  2. ^ @zaraphillips (26 November 2021). "zarahphillips Got hitched today .#marriedlife". Retrieved 15 April 2023 – via Instagram.
  3. ^ Himes, Geoffrey (7 August 1991). "THOMPSON: GLOOM A GRIN". Washington Post. Retrieved 10 May 2016.
  4. ^ "Richard Thompson". GRAMMY.com. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  5. ^ McCormick, Neil (1 October 2019). "Richard Thompson review, Royal Albert Hall: from David Gilmour to Derek Smalls, this was a 70th birthday bash to remember". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 12 January 2022. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference WebSiteBio was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards 2006 – Winners". BBC. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  8. ^ "All-TIME 100 Songs: 1952 Vincent Black Lightning" (retrieved on 26 February 2014).
  9. ^ "No. 59647". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2010. p. 12.
  10. ^ "Official web site list of artist's songs covered by other artists". p. 1. Archived from the original on 4 January 2008. Retrieved 2 March 2008.
  11. ^ "Official web site list of artist's songs covered by other artists". p. 2. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 2 March 2008.