Omar Christopher Lye-Fook MBE (born 14 October 1968), known professionally as Omar, is an English singer, songwriter and actor. He grew up in

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

, and learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. He also spent two years at Chetham's School of Music in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and the

Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...

in London. His most well-known song is his debut single " There's Nothing Like This". It reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart on re-release in 1991. In 2022, he appeared in ''

EastEnders ''EastEnders'' is a British television soap opera created by Julia Smith (producer), Julia Smith and Tony Holland which has been broadcast on BBC One since February 1985. Set in the fictional borough of Walford in the East End of London, the ...

'' as Avery Baker.

Career

Following his first two single releases, "Mr Postman" (1985) and "You and Me" (1988) featuring backing vocals from Caron Wheeler, Omar released his debut

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

, '' There's Nothing Like This'', in 1990. Initially released on his father's

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, Kongo Records, it entered the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, peaking at No. 54. Signing to his first major record label Talkin' Loud, his debut album was re-released, and climbed to No. 19 on the UK Albums Chart. This was followed in 1992 by his second album, ''Music'', which proved less successful than the first, peaking at No. 37. A new signing to

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

led to Omar undertaking collaborations with other musicians, including Lamont Dozier, David Frank ( the System), former Heatwave

bassist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low br ...

Derrick Bramble, Leon Ware,

Syreeta Syreeta Wright (born Rita Wright, February 28, 1946 – July 6, 2004), known mononymously as Syreeta, was an American singer-songwriter, best known for her music during the early 1970s through the early 1980s. Wright's career heights were songs ...

and

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

. In 1996, Omar contributed " Water to Drink" to the

AIDS The HIV, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a retrovirus that attacks the immune system. Without treatment, it can lead to a spectrum of conditions including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is a Preventive healthcare, pr ...

benefit album, ''

Red Hot + Rio Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...

'', produced by the Red Hot Organization. In 2003, after one of his songs (" There's Nothing Like This") was used in the intro round on ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first host ...

'', presenter

Mark Lamarr Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones; 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. He was a team captain on ''Shooting Stars (1993 TV series), Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted ''Never Mind the Buzzcock ...

questioned Omar's supposed instant recognisability, quipping that he would require a Blockbuster card to confirm Omar's identity. Omar's agent e-mailed the show, and, a few episodes later, Omar appeared in the show's 'identity parade' round, Blockbuster card in hand. Lamarr was forced to concede that Omar was both immediately recognisable, and a rather more significant artist than he had earlier given him credit for. In 2006, the

Urban Music Awards The Urban Music Awards (UMA) are a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony that was launched in the UK by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in multiple countries. The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awar ...

presented Omar with the Best Neo Soul Act and Outstanding Achievement Awards. After studying at the Identity Drama School, on 11 June 2009, Omar made his acting debut in Ché Walker's

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

'' Been So Long''. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to music. During July and August 2015, Omar appeared as part of the house band in the

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

comedy series '' The Javone Prince Show''. In June 2017, Omar was one of the "Artists for Grenfell" who performed the number-one charity single "Bridge over Troubled Water", in aid of victims of the

Grenfell Tower fire On 14 June 2017, a List of fires in high-rise buildings, high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of Public housing in the United Kingdom, flats in North Kensington, West London, England, at 00:54 British Summer Time, BST ...

. In January 2022, Omar contributed vocals to Berlin-based artist Le Commandant Couche-Tôt's track "L'été indien". In 2022, Omar was cast in the role of Avery Baker in the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

soap opera ''

''.

Personal life

Omar is sometimes credited as Omar Hammer. His birth father's surname is Lye-Fook, while his stepfather's surname is Hammer. He and his siblings—two brothers and a sister—are all musicians. Samia Lye-Fook, Omar's sister, and youngest of the four, has provided

background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...

for some of Omar's recordings. Omar became the father of twin daughters in early 2008.

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lye-Fook, Omar 1968 births English people of Chinese descent English people of Indian descent English people of Jamaican descent Male actors from London Alumni of the Guildhall School of Music and Drama People educated at Chetham's School of Music Members of the Order of the British Empire Neo soul singers English soul singers 21st-century Black British male singers 21st-century British male singers Living people Talkin' Loud artists RCA Records artists 20th-century Black British male singers 20th-century British male singers