Cyril John Curnin (born 12 December 1957,
Wimbledon, England) is a singer/songwriter and musician and is the lead vocalist for the
new wave music group,
the Fixx
The Fixx are a rock band from London, England, founded in 1979. The band's hits include " One Thing Leads to Another", " Saved by Zero", " Are We Ourselves?", and " Secret Separation", each of which charted in the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot ...
. As a songwriter, he has co-written over a dozen songs that have appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts. He is also known for his solo career, with five albums to date, ''Mayfly'' in 2005, ''The Returning Sun'' in 2007, ''Solar Minimum'' in 2009, ''The Horse's Mouth'' in 2013 and ''Lockdown'' in 2020. He also released an EP of ambient music with no vocals called ''Cinema For The Blind'' in 2012.
He appeared in the
Tina Turner
Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an American-born Swiss retired singer and actress. Widely referred to as the " Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", she rose to prominence as the lead singer of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue before ...
music video "
Better Be Good to Me" along with Fixx guitarist Jamie West-Oram. They both appeared on the ''
Private Dancer
''Private Dancer'' is the fifth solo studio album by Tina Turner. It was released on May 29, 1984, through Capitol Records and was her first album released through the label.
After several challenging years of going solo after divorcing Ike ...
'' album.
In addition to singing lead vocals, Curnin has occasionally played piano or guitar on various Fixx albums.
While Curnin tours regularly with The Fixx, he has also toured as a solo performer in the U.S. and in Europe. On occasion he has been joined by English singer/songwriter/guitarist
Nick Harper. Recently, he was the special guest of
Midge Ure
James Ure (born 10 October 1953) is a Scottish musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. His stage name, Midge, is a phonetic reversal of Jim, the diminutive form of his actual name. Ure enjoyed particular success in the 1970s and 1980 ...
for gigs in Europe.
Curnin supports the music-based cancer charity,
Love Hope Strength Foundation Love Hope Strength Foundation is a charitable foundation whose purpose is to raise funds and awareness in order to benefit people with cancer and leukaemia. The charity sponsors treks and climbs to the world's highest mountains, often performing mus ...
. With them, he has participated in treks to the base camp of Mt. Everest, Kilimanjaro, Machu Picchu, and Pikes Peak to raise awareness and funds for cancer treatment facilities in remote areas of the world.
When not touring the world with The Fixx, Curnin lives in Santa Cruz, California, creating new music.
Biography
Early life
At age of 16, Curnin graduated from high school at the Wimbledon College. He then began participating in drama in college, where he studied with Fixx drummer Adam Woods.
Participations
Curnin provided vocals on
Rupert Hine
Rupert Neville Hine (21 September 1947 – 4 June 2020) was an English musician, songwriter and record producer. He produced albums for artists including Rush, Kevin Ayers, Tina Turner, Howard Jones, Saga, the Fixx, Bob Geldof, Thompson Twin ...
's "With One Look (The Wildest Dream)", which featured on the soundtrack to the 1985
Savage Steve Holland
Savage Steve Holland (born April 29, 1958) is an American writer, cartoonist, producer, voice actor, animator, and film director who wrote and directed the films '' Better Off Dead'' (1985) and ''One Crazy Summer'' (1986), starring John Cusack ...
film,
Better Off Dead.
In 1990, Curnin participated with Rupert Hine and many other artists in the world music album ''
One World One Voice''. He played piano and sang with many artists.
In October 2007, Curnin began an association with the
Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHSF), a music-centric cancer charity. Cy participated with
Mike Peters from
The Alarm
The Alarm are a Welsh rock band that formed in Rhyl, Wales, in 1981. Initially formed as a punk band, the Toilets, in 1977, under lead vocalist Mike Peters, the band soon embraced arena rock and included marked influences from Welsh language ...
,
Glenn Tilbrook
Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is the lead singer and guitarist of the English band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally wrote the music for Squeeze's son ...
from
Squeeze, and
Slim Jim Phantom
James McDonnell (born March 21, 1961), known by the stage name Slim Jim Phantom, is the drummer for Stray Cats. Alongside bandmates Brian Setzer and Lee Rocker, he spearheaded the neo-rockabilly movement of the early 1980s.
Phantom currentl ...
from
Stray Cats
Stray Cats are an American rockabilly band formed in 1979 by guitarist and vocalist Brian Setzer, double bassist Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom in the Long Island town of Massapequa, New York. The group had numerous hit singles ...
in a trek to perform at the base camp of
Mount Everest
Mount Everest (; Tibetan: ''Chomolungma'' ; ) is Earth's highest mountain above sea level, located in the Mahalangur Himal sub-range of the Himalayas. The China–Nepal border runs across its summit point. Its elevation (snow ...
in Nepal. Curnin has since participated in other LHSF treks to
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu is a 15th-century Inca citadel located in the Eastern Cordillera of southern Peru on a mountain range.UNESCO World Heritage Centre. It is located in the Machupicchu District within Urubamba Province above the Sacred Valley, whi ...
,
Pike's Peak,
Mount Kilimanjaro
Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It has three volcanic cones: Kibo, Mawenzi, and Shira. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world: above sea level and ab ...
and in December 2012, Curnin returned to Everest with the organization.
Solo discography
*2005 - ''Mayfly''
*2007 - ''The Returning Sun''
*2009 - ''Solar Minimum''
*2012 - ''Cinema For The Blind - EP''
*2013 - ''The Horse's Mouth''
*2020 - ''Lockdown''
*2021 - ''Superseded - EP''
References
External links
Love Hope Strength Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curnin, Cy
1957 births
Living people
People from Wimbledon, London
English male singers
English new wave musicians
English rock keyboardists
The Fixx members
Male new wave singers
20th-century English singers
21st-century English singers
English rock singers
20th-century British male singers
21st-century British male singers