Trevor Horn

Trevor Horn
Horn in 1984
Horn in 1984
Background information
Birth nameTrevor Charles Horn
Born (1949-07-15) 15 July 1949 (age 75)
Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham, England
Genres
Occupations
  • Record producer
  • musician
  • songwriter
  • studio and label owner
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • bass
Years active1963–present
LabelsZTT
Member of
Formerly of
Spouse
(m. 1980; died 2014)

Trevor Charles Horn CBE (born 15 July 1949) is an English record producer and musician. His influence on pop and electronic music in the 1980s was such that he has been called "the man who invented the eighties".[1][2]

Horn took up the bass guitar at an early age and taught himself to sight-read music. In the 1970s, he worked as a session musician, built his own studio, and wrote and produced singles for various artists. Horn gained fame in 1979 as a member of the Buggles, who achieved a hit single with "Video Killed the Radio Star". He was invited to join the progressive rock band Yes, becoming their lead singer.

In 1981, Horn became a full-time producer, working on successful songs and albums for acts including Yes, Dollar, ABC, Malcolm McLaren, Grace Jones and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. In 1983, Horn and his wife, the music executive Jill Sinclair, purchased Sarm West Studios, London, and formed a record label, ZTT Records, with the journalist Paul Morley. Horn also co-formed the electronic group Art of Noise. Horn achieved hits in the following decades with Seal, t.A.T.u. and LeAnn Rimes, and produced the 2003 Belle and Sebastian record Dear Catastrophe Waitress. He has performed with the supergroup Producers, later known as the Trevor Horn Band, since 2006.

Horn's awards include Brit Awards for Best British Producer in 1983, 1985, and 1992, a 1995 Grammy Award for Seal's song "Kiss from a Rose", and a 2010 Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.[3]

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference feb2012 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Potton, Ed (1 October 2013). "And Now It's Farewell to the Pleasuredome". The Australian. Archived from the original on 2 November 2023. Retrieved 2 June 2018.
  3. ^ "2010 Ivor Novello Awards: The Winners". BBC News. 20 May 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2014.