Gary Osborne (born 1949 in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

) is an English singer and songwriter. He chaired The Songwriters Executive of the British Academy Of Songwriters Composers and Authors for 12 years during which time he was also chairman of

The Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been ...

Career

Born in London in 1949, Osborne is the son of the late musical director Tony Osborne. He was educated in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

and entered the music industry at the age of 15. As a teenage songwriter Osborne had recordings by Timi Yuro,

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( el, Ιωάννα "Νάνα" Μούσχουρη ) (born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer. Over the span of her career, she has released over 200 albums in at least twelve languages, including Greek, French, English, Germ ...

and

Val Doonican Michael Valentine Doonican (3 February 1927 – 1 July 2015) was an Irish singer of traditional pop, easy listening, and novelty songs, who was noted for his warm and relaxed style. A crooner, he found popular success, especially in the ...

and at age 17 had his first US chart entry with "On The Other Side" by

The Seekers The Seekers were an Australian folk music, folk-influenced pop music, pop quartet, originally formed in Melbourne in 1962. They were the first Australian pop music group to achieve major chart and sales success in the United Kingdom and the Un ...

, which he wrote with

Tom Springfield Tom Springfield (born Dionysius Patrick O'Brien, 2 July 1934 – 27 July 2022) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer who was prominent in the 1960s folk and pop music scene. He was the older brother of singer Dusty Springfiel ...

. Osborne's early career included presenting the 1960s radio show ''Cool Britania'' on the

BBC World Service The BBC World Service is an international broadcaster owned and operated by the BBC, with funding from the British Government through the Foreign Secretary's office. It is the world's largest external broadcaster in terms of reception a ...

and a stint with

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also ...

in its A&R department. In the early 1970s, he was active in television

jingle A jingle is a short song or tune used in advertising and for other commercial uses. Jingles are a form of sound branding. A jingle contains one or more hooks and meaning that explicitly promote the product or service being advertised, usually ...

s, writing and performing hundreds of songs for brands including

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi wa ...

, Ultra Brite, Shredded Wheat and

Abbey National The Abbey National Building Society was formed in 1944 by the merger of the Abbey Road and the National building societies. It was the first building society in the United Kingdom to demutualise, doing so in July 1989. The bank expanded thro ...

.British Academy of Composers and Songwriters
Retrieved May 2008. Osborne and Paul Vigrass recorded two albums, both produced by Jeff Wayne. Their first was ''Queues'', in 1972, containing the hits " Forever Autumn", "Men of Learning" and "Virginia (Be Strong)". Their second and last was ''Steppin' Out'', with the hit "Gypsy Woman". "Men of Learning" peaked at #84 in Australia in 1972. Osborne went on to collaborate with Elton John throughout the 1978 album ''

A Single Man ''A Single Man'' is a 2009 American period romantic drama film based on the 1964 novel of the same name by Christopher Isherwood. The directorial debut of fashion designer Tom Ford, the film stars Colin Firth, who was nominated for the Academy ...

'', and on parts of the albums '' 21 at 33'', '' The Fox'', '' Jump Up!'' and '' Leather Jackets''. The three biggest singles co-written by Elton John and Osborne were "

Part-Time Love "Part-Time Love" is a song written by English musician Elton John with lyrics by Gary Osborne. It is the sixth track off his 1978 album, ''A Single Man''. It is also the opening track of side two. It proved to be one of the most popular singles ...

" from 1978, "

Little Jeannie "Little Jeannie" (spelled "Little Jeanie" on the cover of certain single releases) is a song written by English musician Elton John and Gary Osborne recorded by John, and released as a single in 1980 from John's album ''21 at 33''. It reached nu ...

", a U.S. million-seller in 1980, and the worldwide hit " Blue Eyes" from 1982. Osborne was the principal lyricist on the best-selling

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Some ...

'' Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds'' which has sold in excess of 15 million albums and performed half a dozen sold-out UK arena tours as well as touring in Europe and Australia. Osborne's collaboration with Richard Kerr yielded the US hit "I'm Dreaming" for

Jennifer Warnes Jennifer Jean Warnes (born March 3, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter. She has performed as a vocalist on a number of film soundtracks. She has won two Grammy Awards, in 1983 for the Joe Cocker duet "Up Where We Belong" and in 1987 for ...

and "Making The Best of a Bad Situation" for

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American R&B and soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified gold by the RIAA for over 500,000 copies sold. Jackson's songs o ...

's ''

Still Caught Up ''Still Caught Up'' is the fifth album by R&B musician Millie Jackson, issued by Spring Records in 1975. It includes the single, "Loving Arms" / "Leftovers." A sequel to Jackson's previous album, ''Caught Up'', which told the story of a woman h ...

'' album, as well as cuts by

Jimmy Helms James D. Helms (born September 27, 1941) is an American soul singer, known as a member of Londonbeat but who also had solo hits such as " Gonna Make You an Offer You Can't Refuse". Early years James D. Helms was born in Florida, United States. ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

, Peter Cetera, The Edwin Hawkins Singers and

The Righteous Brothers The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Lo ...

. He co-wrote songs for Albert Hammond's album ''Somewhere in America'' (1982). " I Am the Future", written with

Lalo Schifrin Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical eleme ...

for the soundtrack of the movie ''

Class of 1984 ''Class of 1984'' is a 1982 crime action thriller film directed by Mark Lester and co-written by Tom Holland and John Saxton, based on a story by Holland. The film stars Perry King, Merrie Lynn Ross (who also served as co-executive producer), T ...

'', was performed by

Alice Cooper Alice Cooper (born Vincent Damon Furnier, February 4, 1948) is an American rock singer whose career spans over five decades. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusions, including pyrotechnics, guilloti ...

. Other films featuring Osborne songs include ''

My Own Private Idaho ''My Own Private Idaho'' is a 1991 American independent adventure drama film written and directed by Gus Van Sant, loosely based on Shakespeare's ''Henry IV, Part 1'', '' Henry IV, Part 2'', and ''Henry V''. The story follows two friends, Mike ...

'', ''

Stardust Stardust may refer to: * A type of cosmic dust, composed of particles in space Entertainment Songs * “Stardust” (1927 song), by Hoagy Carmichael * “Stardust” (David Essex song), 1974 * “Stardust” (Lena Meyer-Landrut song), 2012 * ...

'', '' Every Day's a Holiday'', ''

Summer Lovers ''Summer Lovers'' is a 1982 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Randal Kleiser and starring Peter Gallagher, Daryl Hannah and Valerie Quennessen. It was filmed on location on the island of Santorini, Greece. The original mus ...

'', ''

The Legacy The Legacy may refer to: * '' Le Legs'' or ''The Legacy'', a play by Pierre de Marivaux * The Legacy (professional wrestling), a former professional wrestling faction in World Wrestling Entertainment * ''The Legacy'' (album), an album by Testament ...

'' and '' Oh! Heavenly Dog''. Osborne's credits as a backing vocalist include "Sugar Baby Love" by

The Rubettes The Rubettes are an English pop/glam rock band put together in 1974 after the release of " Sugar Baby Love", a recording assembled of studio session musicians in 1973 by the songwriting team of Wayne Bickerton, the then head of A&R at Polydor ...

, "You Can Make Me Dance" by Rod Stewart and The Faces, and "Part-Time Love" by Elton John. More recent work includes the 2006 UK top-3 hit " Checkin' It Out" by

Lil' Chris Christopher James Hardman (26 August 1990 – 23 March 2015), known by the stage name Lil' Chris, was a British singer-songwriter, actor, and television personality from Lowestoft, England. He came to prominence in 2006 after appearing on the ...

References

External links

* Allmusic song discography
British Academy of Composers and Songwriters article
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Gary Living people English male singer-songwriters English lyricists English session musicians British soft rock musicians A&R people 1949 births Date of birth missing (living people)