Anderson Amos Temba "Andy" Qunta (born 9 January 1951) is an English singer, songwriter, composer and musician. In a career spanning more than 40 years, Qunta is best known as the keyboardist of the Australian rock band Icehouse from between 1982 and 1988. As a popular musician, he has been influenced by artists including

the Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

Cliff Richard Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is a British singer and actor. He has total sales of over 21.5 million singles in the United Kingdom and, as of 2012, was the third-top-selling artist in UK Singles Chart histo ...

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential guitarists of all time. Inducted ...

, Genesis,

Manfred Mann Manfred Mann were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. They were named after their keyboardist Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann, who later led the successful 1970s group Manfred Mann's Earth Band. The group had two l ...

Yes Yes or YES may refer to: * An affirmative particle in the English language; see yes and no Education * YES Prep Public Schools, Houston, Texas, US * Young Eisner Scholars, in Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, and Appalachia, US * Young Ep ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

and

Queen Queen most commonly refers to: * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a kingdom * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen (band), a British rock band Queen or QUEEN may also refer to: Monarchy * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Q ...

Early years

Anderson Qunta was born on 9 January 1951, in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. His father was South African and his mother English. Beginning at the age of six, he studied classical piano and violin, but later developed an interest in popular music and picked up guitar, bass guitar, harmonica, and drums.

Music career

In 1970, Andy and his brother Tony formed the band Factory in

Hastings Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England, east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...

, England. Andy played 12-string guitar, Tony played lead guitar and electric violin, Laurie Cooksey played drums, Jaffa Peckham played bass guitar until 1974 being replaced with Steve Kinch. All members contributed to vocals, and the band played to consistently good critical reviews. The original members of Factory re-formed in 2014, and their debut studio album ''Back in the Time Machine'' was released in April 2016. From 1979, Qunta worked as a session musician and toured with various bands, beginning with Hazel O'Connor's Megahype. In 1981, he played on the single " I Can't Even Touch You" by Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel. In 1982,

Manfred Mann's Earth Band Manfred Mann's Earth Band are an English rock band formed by South African musician Manfred Mann (musician), Manfred Mann. Their hits include covers of Bruce Springsteen's "For You (Bruce Springsteen song), For You", "Blinded by the Light" an ...

recorded Qunta's song "Tribal Statistics" for their album '' Somewhere in Afrika''. This recording was also released as a single, but it failed to chart. At the end of 1982, Qunta moved to Australia to join the band Icehouse. Their 1983 single " Hey Little Girl" reached the Top 10 in the UK and Europe. In 1984, Icehouse released the album ''

Sidewalk A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English, South African English), or footpath (Hiberno-English, Irish English, Indian English, Australian English, New Zealand English) is a path along the side of a road. Usually constr ...

'', which featured the hit " Don't Believe Anymore", and toured Australia, New Zealand, UK, Japan and Europe to support the release. Icehouse continued with a succession of hits, including the singles " Great Southern Land", " Crazy", " Electric Blue", and "My Obsession". Their best selling albums included '' Primitive Man'' (1982), and '' Man of Colours'' (1987). The band was inducted into the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival Records (Australia), Festival, Sony Music ...

(ARIA)

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on 16 August 2006. Along with the success of "Crazy", in 1987 Qunta co-wrote " You're the Voice" which was released by

John Farnham John Peter Farnham (born 1 July 1949) is a British-born Australian singer. Farnham was a teen pop idol from 1967 until the mid-1970s, billed as Johnny Farnham. He has since forged a career as an adult contemporary singer.McFarlane (1999). Enc ...

as the first single from his studio album '' Whispering Jack'' (1986). The song reached the number-one chart position. This gave Qunta the confidence to write and record his 1989 solo album ''Legend in a Loungeroom''. Afterward he left Icehouse, and relocated to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California.

Songwriting career

In 1985, Qunta signed a worldwide publishing contract with

Rondor Music Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) is a global music publishing company and is part of the Universal Music Group. Universal Music Publishing has been ranked the #1 music publisher in market share by Billboard for multiple consecutive quart ...

to market his songs, but in 1992 he switched to PolyGram in Los Angeles, California. In 1986, Qunta and Iva Davies co-wrote the Icehouse single "Crazy", he also co-wrote " You're the Voice" for

in the same year. In 2000, he wrote the score for the movie ''Last Chance'' and in 2006 collaborated with Anthony Di Pietro on a stage musical adaptation of

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

's story " The Man Who Would Be King" (1888).

Personal life

Qunta married songwriter Jane Wareing in 1997 and they have a daughter named Alex. The couple divorced in 2001. He currently lives near Los Angeles, California, with his current wife, photographer Teresa Qunta (nee Jones) whom he married in 2005.

Discography

Qunta has a long list of credits, and in 1989 released a solo studio album. Studio album * ''Legend in a Loungeroom'' (1989)

References

External links

Official website
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Qunta, Andy 1951 births Living people Musicians from Warrington 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English male composers English male singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English pop rock singers English session musicians English people of South African descent English male guitarists English keyboardists Icehouse (band) members Classix Nouveaux members