Christopher Ward Norman (born 25 October 1950) is an English

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

singer. Norman was the original lead singer of the English rock band Smokie (1964–1986), which found success in Europe in the 1970s. " Stumblin' In", a 1978 duet with

Suzi Quatro Susan Kay Quatro (born June 3, 1950) is an American singer, bass guitarist, songwriter, and actress. In the 1970s, she scored a string of singles that found success in Europe and Australia, with both "Can the Can" (1973) and "Devil Gate Drive" ...

, became a big hit in the United States and Europe. The single " Midnight Lady" also became an international hit. In the 1990-2000s, he toured the countries of

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

; he is most popular in the

Baltic countries The Baltic states or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term encompassing Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone, and the OECD. The three sovereign states on the eastern co ...

Life and career

Norman acquired his first guitar at the age of seven. His early musical influences were

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

Little Richard Richard Wayne Penniman (December 5, 1932 – May 9, 2020), known professionally as Little Richard, was an American singer, pianist, and songwriter. He was an influential figure in popular music and culture for seven decades. Described as the "Ar ...

Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...

, and

Lonnie Donegan Anthony James "Lonnie" Donegan (29 April 1931 – 3 November 2002) was a British skiffle singer, songwriter and musician, referred to as the " King of Skiffle", who influenced 1960s British pop and rock musicians. Born in Scotland and brought ...

. In these early years, Norman's parents moved around the country a lot, which resulted in him going to nine different schools, and living in various locations around England, such as Redcar,

Luton Luton () is a town and borough in Bedfordshire, England. The borough had a population of 225,262 at the 2021 census. Luton is on the River Lea, about north-west of London. The town's foundation dates to the sixth century as a Saxon settleme ...

, Kimpton, and

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

. By 1962, however, the family had moved back to Norman's mother's home city of

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

. Approaching his 12th birthday, Norman started at St. Bede's Grammar School, where he met Alan Silson and Terry Uttley, future members of Smokie. As teenagers, influenced by the new era of groups such as

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

and then

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk horror ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Fo ...

singer,

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

, Norman and Silson began meeting up and spent nearly all their spare time learning new songs on their guitars. They managed to persuade Uttley to join them and, along with a drummer friend called Ron Kelly, they formed their first band. The Yen, Essence, and Long Side Down were just some of a variety of names they called themselves before settling on "The Elizabethans". When Ron Kelly left the group in 1973, an old friend called Pete Spencer was asked to take over on the drums, and the group, which was to become Smokie, was complete. In 1970, Norman married his wife, Linda, and they have five children together. Since 1986, they have resided on the Isle of Man. Between 1974 and the early 1980s, Smokie enjoyed success touring all over the world, but the strain and pressure of constantly being away from home and family was beginning to tell on Norman. By the early 1980s, he decided to spend more time writing and working in the studio. Norman and Spencer then worked together on songs for other artists including hits for

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. Nicknamed "King Kev" or "Mighty Mouse", Keegan was recognised for his dribbling ability, as well as his finishing and presence in the air, and is regard ...

(" Head Over Heels in Love", a number-31 UK hit), and the England football team song "This Time (We'll Get It Right)". He also worked with

Agnetha Fältskog Agneta Åse "Agnetha" Fältskog (; born 5 April 1950) is a Swedish singer, songwriter, and a former member of the pop group ABBA. She first achieved success in Sweden with the release of her 1968 Agnetha Fältskog (album), self-titled debut alb ...

(on her solo album), Racey (co-writer of "Baby It's You"),

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

(backing vocals on ''

''), and

Heavy Metal Kids Heavy Metal Kids are a British rock band. History Early years (1973–1985) Heavy Metal Kids were formed in 1972 by the merger of two previous bands: Heaven and Biggles. They took their name from a gang of street kids, featured in the nove ...

. In 1978, Norman recorded a duet with

, " Stumblin' In", which made number four on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and sold over one million copies. Norman's solo career took off in 1986 with the song, " Midnight Lady", which was a hit throughout Europe, holding the number-one spot in Germany for six weeks (where it sold 900,000 copies). Further success followed by the songs " Some Hearts Are Diamonds", " No Arms Can Ever Hold You", " Broken Heroes", "Fearless Hearts", "Sarah", and "Baby I Miss You". In 1994, Norman was honoured by CMT Europe as their International Video Star of the Year. In 2004, he took part in the ''Comeback Show'' on the German TV station

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

, and he performed "Stumblin' In" as a duet with C. C. Catch. In the final episode of the show, he was joined by Smokie for the final song. On 2 June 2007, Norman performed at the Peel Bay Festival,

Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...

. In July 2017, he performed at the Rendezvous music festival in

Jūrmala Jūrmala (; "seaside") is a state city in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, about west of Riga. Jūrmala is a resort town stretching and is sandwiched between the Gulf of Riga and the Lielupe River. It has a stretch of white-sand beach and is the ...

. In 2019, he was the headliner of the

White Nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held in ...

music festival in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, the festival was a tribute to the 50-year career of

Alla Pugacheva Alla Borisovna Pugacheva (, ; born 15 April 1949) is a Russian singer and songwriter. Her career began in 1965 and continues to this day, although she retired from performing in 2010 after the international concert tour "Dreams of Love". For her ...

. Also headlining were Level 42,

Bonnie Tyler Gaynor Sullivan (née Hopkins; born 8 June 1951), known professionally as Bonnie Tyler, is a Welsh singer. Known for her distinctive husky voice, Tyler came to prominence with the release of her 1977 album '' The World Starts Tonight'' and its ...

, and Svetlana Loboda,

Discography

* ''Rock Away Your Teardrops'' (1982) * '' Some Hearts Are Diamonds'' (1986) * ''Different Shades'' (1987) * ''Break the Ice'' (1989) * ''Interchange'' (1991) * ''The Growing Years'' (1992) * ''The Album'' (1994) * ''Reflections'' (1995) * ''Into the Night'' (1997) * ''Christmas Together'' (1997) * ''Full Circle'' (2000) * ''Breathe Me In'' (2001) * ''Handmade'' (2003) * ''Break Away'' (2004) * ''Million Miles'' (2006) * ''Close Up'' (2007) * ''Time Traveller'' (2011) * ''There and Back'' (2013) * ''Crossover'' (2015) * ''Don't Knock the Rock'' (2017) * ''Just a Man'' (2021) * ''Junction 55'' (2024)

Industry awards

, - , 1986 , "Midnight Lady" , Goldene Europa Comeback des Jahres , , - , 1986 , Best Male Singer , Bravo Otto - Best Male Singer (Bronze) , , - , 1986 , Himself , Löwe von

Radio Luxembourg Radio Luxembourg was a multilingual commercial broadcaster in Luxembourg. It is known in most non-English languages as RTL (for Radio Television Luxembourg). The English-language service of Radio Luxembourg began in 1933 as one of the earlies ...

Silver Award , , - , 1986 , Male Singer , Gold Hammerschlumpf - Pop/Rocky , , - , 1994 , "Jealous Heart" , CMT Europe International Video Star of the Year , , - , 2001 , Himself , Gala zur Verleihung des Internationalen Schlagerpreises , , - , 2004 , Himself , Radio Regenbogen Award , , - ''Billboard'' Year End Charts 1979 '' Cashbox'' Year End Awards 1979 ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' Year End Awards 1979

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Norman, Chris 1950 births Living people 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English male singers English rock singers English pop singers English rock guitarists English male songwriters British soft rock musicians British rhythm guitarists Musicians from Bradford People from Redcar Hansa Records artists Sony BMG artists Rak Records artists Polydor Records artists 20th-century English guitarists 21st-century English guitarists English male guitarists 20th-century English male singers 21st-century English male singers