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The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical
arrangement In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing composition. Differences from the original composition may include reharmonization, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or formal development. Arranging differs from orchestr ...
s with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During their first run from 1970 to 1986, Lynne and Bevan were the group's only consistent members. The group's name is a pun that references both
electric light Electric light is an artificial light source powered by electricity. Electric Light may also refer to: * Light fixture, a decorative enclosure for an electric light source * Electric Light (album), ''Electric Light'' (album), a 2018 album by James ...
and "light orchestral music", a popular style featured in places such as the BBC Light Programme between the 1940s and 1960s. ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical influences. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band,
the Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album '' Out of the Blue'' (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of the British charts: the
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
-inspired ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
'' (1979) and the
science-fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, sp ...
-themed
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. Som ...
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' (1981). In 1986, Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became The Orchestra. Following a brief reunion from 2000 to 2001, ELO once again went inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Richard Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO. Tandy died in May 2024, leaving Lynne as the sole member. In 2024 ELO embarked on their final tour, which had been announced four years prior to Tandy's death, but was delayed by the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide. They collected 19 CRIA, 21
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986 ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen Top 20 songs on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top 40 hits (20) without a number one. In 2017, four key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan, and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.


History


1970–1973: Formation and early albums

In 1968, Roy Wood—guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of
the Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
—had an idea to form a new band that would use
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
s,
cello The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
s, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, allowing rock music to "pick up where
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 ...
left off" in a new direction. The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group the Idle Race, was excited by the concept. When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. But in January 1970, when Carl Wayne quit the band, Lynne accepted Wood's second invitation to join, on the condition that they focus their energy on the new project. On 12 July 1970, when Wood added multiple cellos to a Lynne-penned song intended to be a Move B-side, the new concept became a reality and " 10538 Overture" became the first Electric Light Orchestra song. The original plan was to end the Move following the release of the ''
Looking On ''Looking On'' is the third studio album by the English rock band the Move, released in the UK in December 1970. The album is their first to feature Jeff Lynne, their first containing entirely original compositions, and the first on the Fly l ...
'' album at the end of 1970, crossing over to the new unit in the new year. But to help finance the fledgling band, one further Move album, ''
Message from the Country ''Message from the Country'' is the fourth and final studio album by the Move, as well as the group's only album for EMI's Harvest Records, Harvest label. It was recorded simultaneously with the first Electric Light Orchestra album, ''The Electri ...
'', was recorded during the lengthy ELO recordings and released in mid-1971. The resulting debut album, '' The Electric Light Orchestra'', was released in December 1971. Only the trio of Wood, Lynne and Bevan played on all songs, with Bill Hunt supplying the French Horn parts and Steve Woolam playing violin. It was released in the United States in March 1972 as ''No Answer''. The name was chosen after a U.S. record company secretary had tried to ring the UK company to get the name of the album. They were unavailable so she left a note reading "No answer". "10538 Overture" became a UK top-ten hit. With both bands' albums in the stores simultaneously, the Move and ELO both appeared on television during this period. ELO's debut concert took place on 16 April 1972 at the Greyhound Pub in
Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...
, Surrey, with a line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, Bill Hunt (keyboards/French horn), Andy Craig (cello), Mike Edwards (cello), Wilfred Gibson (violin), Hugh McDowell (cello), and Richard Tandy (bass). However, this line-up did not last for long. First Craig departed, and then Wood, during the recordings for the band's second LP. Taking Hunt and McDowell with him, Wood left the band to form Wizzard. Both cited problems with their manager, Don Arden, who Wood felt failed in his role, and an unsatisfactory tour of Italy. However, Arden would manage Wizzard, despite Wood's negative comments towards Arden. Despite predictions from the music press that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan, Edwards, Gibson and Tandy (who had switched from bass to keyboards to replace Hunt) remaining from the previous line-up, and new recruits Mike de Albuquerque and Colin Walker joining the band on bass and cello, respectively. The new line-up performed at the 1972
Reading Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading, Berkshire, Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend ...
on 12 August 1972. Barcus Berry instrument pick-ups, now sported by the band's string trio, allowed them to have proper amplification on stage for their instruments, which had previously been all but drowned out by the electrified instruments. The band released their second album, '' ELO 2'', in early 1973, which produced their second UK top 10 and their first US chart single, an elaborate version of the
Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...
classic "
Roll Over Beethoven "Roll Over Beethoven" is a 1956 song written by Chuck Berry, originally released on Chess Records, with "Drifting Heart" as the A-side and B-side, B-side. The lyrics of the song mention rock and roll and the desire for rhythm and blues to be a ...
" (which also incorporated the first 2 or 3 lines from the first movement of
Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's own Fifth Symphony). ELO also made their first appearance on ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
''. During the recording of the third album, Gibson was let go after a dispute over money, Mik Kaminski joined as violinist, and Walker left since touring was keeping him away from his family too much. Remaining cellist Edwards finished the cello parts for the album. The resulting album, '' On the Third Day'', was released in late 1973, with the American version featuring the popular single " Showdown". After leaving Wizzard, Hugh McDowell returned as the group's second cellist, also in late 1973, in time to appear on the '' On the Third Day'' cover in some regions, despite not having played on the album.


1974–1982: Global success and concept albums

For the band's fourth album, '' Eldorado'', a concept album about a daydreamer, Lynne stopped multi-tracking strings and hired Louis Clark as string arranger with an orchestra and choir. ELO's string players still continued to perform on recordings, however. The first single off the album, " Can't Get It Out of My Head", became their first US top 10 hit, and ''Eldorado, A Symphony'' became ELO's first gold album. Mike de Albuquerque departed the band during the recording sessions as he wished to spend more time with his family, and consequently much of the bass on the album was performed by Lynne. Following the release of ''Eldorado'', Kelly Groucutt was recruited as bassist and in early 1975, Melvyn Gale replaced Edwards on cello. The line-up stabilised as the band took to a decidedly more accessible sound. ELO had become successful in the US at this point and the group was a star attraction on the stadium and arena circuit, and appeared on '' The Midnight Special'' more than any other band in that show's history with four appearances (in 1973, 1975, 1976, and 1977). '' Face the Music'' was released in 1975, producing the hit singles " Evil Woman", their third UK top 10, and " Strange Magic". The opening instrumental " Fire on High", with its mix of strings and acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as the theme music for the American television programme '' CBS Sports Spectacular'' in the mid-1970s. The group toured extensively from 3 February to 13 April 1976, playing 68 shows in 76 days in the US. Their sixth album, the platinum-selling '' A New World Record'', became their first UK top 10 album when it was released in 1976."ELO: UK Chart History"
Official Charts Company. Retrieved 9 February 2015
It contained the hit singles " Livin' Thing", " Telephone Line", " Rockaria!" and " Do Ya", the last a re-recording of
the Move The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of ...
's final single. The band toured in support in the US only from September 1976 to April 1977 with a break in December, then an ''
American Music Awards The American Music Awards (AMAs) is an annual American music awards show produced by Dick Clark Productions since 1974. Nominees are selected on commercial performance such as sales and airplay. Winners are determined by a poll of the public and ...
'' show appearance on 31 January 1977, plus a one-off gig in San Diego in August 1977. ''A New World Record'' was followed by a multi-platinum-selling album, the double LP '' Out of the Blue'', in 1977. ''Out of the Blue'' featured the singles " Turn to Stone", " Sweet Talkin' Woman", " Mr. Blue Sky", and " Wild West Hero", each becoming a hit in the United Kingdom. The band then set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive spaceship stage with fog machines and a
laser A laser is a device that emits light through a process of optical amplification based on the stimulated emission of electromagnetic radiation. The word ''laser'' originated as an acronym for light amplification by stimulated emission of radi ...
display. In the United States the concerts were billed as ''The Big Night'' and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at
Cleveland Stadium Cleveland Stadium, commonly known as Municipal Stadium, Lakefront Stadium or Cleveland Municipal Stadium, was a multi-purpose stadium in Cleveland, Ohio. It was one of the early multi-purpose stadiums, built to accommodate both baseball and foot ...
. ''The Big Night'' became the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978). The band played at London's
Wembley Arena Wembley Arena () (originally the Empire Pool, currently known as OVO Energy, OVO Arena Wembley for sponsorship reasons) is an indoor arena next to Wembley Stadium in Wembley, Greater London, England. The 12,500-seat facility is Greater Lond ...
for eight straight sold-out nights during the tour, another record at the time. During an Australian tour in early 1978, Electric Light Orchestra were presented with 9 platinum awards for the albums ''Out of the Blue'' and ''A New World Record''. In 1979, the multi- platinum album ''
Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...
'' was released, reaching number one on 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 ...
. Although the biggest hit on the album (also ELO's biggest hit overall) was the rock song " Don't Bring Me Down", the album was noted for its heavy
disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
influence. ''Discovery'' also produced the hits " Shine a Little Love" (their only No. 1 hit on a US singles chart--- Radio & Records (R&R)), " Last Train to London", " Confusion", and " The Diary of Horace Wimp". Another song, "Midnight Blue", was released as a single in southeast Asia. The band recorded promotional videos for all the songs on the album. By the end of 1979, ELO had reached the peak of their stardom, selling millions of albums and singles, and even inspiring a
parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...
/ tribute song on the
Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter, arranger, pianist, composer, conductor and orchestrator. He is known for his non-rhotic Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early America ...
album '' Born Again'', titled "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band". During 1979, Jeff Lynne also turned down an invitation for ELO to headline the August 1979 Knebworth Festival concerts. That allowed
Led Zeppelin Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
to headline instead. In January 1980, Hugh McDowell, Melvyn Gale, and Mik Kaminski were fired, as Jeff Lynne sought to take the band in a more modern direction. Later that year, Lynne was asked to write for the soundtrack of the musical film '' Xanadu'' and provided half of the songs, with the other half written by
John Farrar John Clifford Farrar ( ; born 8 November 1946) is an Australian Record producer, music producer, songwriter, arranger, singer, and guitarist. As a musician, Farrar is a former member of several rock and roll groups including The Mustangs (1963 ...
and performed by the film's star
Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
. The film performed poorly at the box office, but the soundtrack did exceptionally well, eventually going double platinum. The album spawned hit singles from both Newton-John (" Magic", a No. 1 hit in the United States, and " Suddenly" with
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 ...
) and ELO (" I'm Alive", which went gold, " All Over the World" and " Don't Walk Away"). The title track, performed by both Newton-John and ELO, is ELO's only song to top the UK singles chart. More than a quarter of a century later, '' Xanadu'', a Broadway musical based on the film, opened on 10 July 2007 at the Helen Hayes Theatre to uniformly good reviews. It received four
Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
nominations. The musical received its UK premiere in London in October 2015. In 1981, ELO's sound changed again with the science fiction
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. Som ...
''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'', a throwback to earlier, more
progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...
albums like ''Eldorado''. With the string section now departed, synthesisers took a dominating role, as was the trend in the larger music scene of the time; although studio strings were present on some of the tracks conducted by Rainer Pietsch, the overall soundscape had a more electronic feel in keeping with the futuristic nature of the album. ''Time'' topped the UK charts for two weeks and was the last ELO studio album to be certified platinum in the United Kingdom until ''Alone in the Universe'' in 2015. Singles from the album included " Hold On Tight", "
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
", " The Way Life's Meant to Be", " Here Is the News" and " Ticket to the Moon". However, the release of the single for " Rain Is Falling" in 1982 was the band's first single in the US to fail to reach the ''Billboard'' Top 200 since 1975, and the release of "The Way Life's Meant to Be" similarly was their first single in the UK to fail to chart since 1976. The band embarked on their last world tour to promote the LP. For the tour, Kaminski returned to the line-up on violin, whilst Louis Clark (synthesizers) and Dave Morgan (guitar, keyboards, synthesizers, vocals) also joined the on stage line-up. Clark had previously handled string arrangements for the band.


1983–1986: ''Secret Messages'', ''Balance of Power'', disbanding

Jeff Lynne wanted to follow ''Time'' with a double album, but CBS blocked his plan on the grounds that a double vinyl album would be too expensive and not sell as well as a single record, so as a result, the new album was edited down to a single disc and released as '' Secret Messages'' in 1983; many of the out-takes were later released on '' Afterglow'' or as B-sides of singles. The album was a hit in the UK reaching the top 5, but its release was undermined by a string of bad news that there would be no tour to promote the LP. Lynne, discouraged by the dwindling crowds on the ''Time'' tour, CBS's order to cut ''Secret Messages'' down to one disc, and his falling out with manager Don Arden, decided to end ELO in late 1983. Drummer Bevan moved on to play drums for
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
, and bassist Groucutt, unhappy with no touring income that year, sued Lynne and Jet Records in November 1983, eventually resulting in a settlement for the sum of £300,000 (equivalent to £1,004,913 in 2025). While ''Secret Messages'' debuted at number four in the United Kingdom, it subsequently performed poorly in the charts, with a lack of hit singles (though " Rock 'n' Roll Is King" was a sizeable hit in UK, the US and Australia) and a lukewarm media response. That same year, Lynne moved into production work: having already produced two tracks for the Dave Edmunds album ''
Information Information is an Abstraction, abstract concept that refers to something which has the power Communication, to inform. At the most fundamental level, it pertains to the Interpretation (philosophy), interpretation (perhaps Interpretation (log ...
'', he would produce six cuts for his next, '' Riff Raff'' in 1984, and one cut on the Everly Brothers reunion album '' EB 84''. He also composed a track for former
ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...
member Agnetha Fältskog's 1985 album '' Eyes of a Woman''. Lynne and Tandy recorded tracks for the 1984 '' Electric Dreams'' soundtrack under Lynne's name; however, Lynne was contractually obliged to make one more ELO album. So Lynne, Bevan and Tandy returned to the studio in 1984 and 1985 as a three-piece (with Christian Schneider playing saxophone on some tracks and Lynne again doubling on bass in addition to his usual guitar in the absence of an official bass player) to record '' Balance of Power'', released early in 1986 after some delays. Though the single " Calling America" placed in the Top 30 in the United Kingdom (number 28) and Top 20 in the States, subsequent singles failed to chart. The album lacked actual classical strings, which were replaced once again by synthesizers, played by Tandy and Lynne. However, despite being a 3-piece, much of the album was made by Lynne alone, with Tandy and Bevan giving their additions later. The band was then rejoined by Kaminski, Clark and Morgan, adding Martin Smith on bass guitar, and proceeded to perform a small number of live ELO performances in 1986, including shows in England and Germany along with US appearances on ''
American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'' (AB) is an American Music television, music performance and dance television series that aired in various iterations from 1952 to 1989. It was hosted by Dick Clark who also served as the program's Television producer, pr ...
'', '' Solid Gold'', then at
Disneyland Disneyland is a amusement park, theme park at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California. It was the first theme park opened by the Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney, ...
that summer. ELO performed at the Heart Beat 86 charity concert organised by Bevan in the band's hometown of Birmingham on 15 March 1986; a hint of Lynne's future was seen when George Harrison appeared onstage during the encore, joining in the all-star jam of "
Johnny B. Goode "Johnny B. Goode" is a song by American musician Chuck Berry, written and sung by Berry in 1958. Released as a Single (music), single in 1958, it peaked at number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, Hot R&B Sides chart and number eight on its pre ...
". ELO's last performance for several years occurred on 13 July 1986 in
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...
, Germany, opening for
Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...
. With Lynne no longer contractually obliged to further performances, ELO effectively disbanded after that show, but there was no announcement made of it for the next two years, during which George Harrison's Lynne-produced album '' Cloud Nine'' and the pair's follow-up (with Roy Orbison,
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 ...
and
Tom Petty Thomas Earl Petty (October 20, 1950October 2, 2017) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He was the leader and frontman of the Rock music, rock bands Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Mudcrutch and a member of the late 1980s sup ...
as Traveling Wilburys) '' Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1'' were released.


1989–1999: ELO Part II

Bev Bevan (under an agreement with Lynne, who co-owned the ELO name with him) continued on in 1989 as ELO Part II, initially with no other former ELO members, but with ELO's main orchestra conductor, Louis Clark. Bevan also recruited Eric Troyer,
Pete Haycock Peter John Haycock (4 March 1951 – 30 October 2013) was an English musician and film score composer. He began his career as lead guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of the Climax Blues Band. Early life and career Haycock was born in Staff ...
, and Neil Lockwood. ELO Part II released their debut album, '' Electric Light Orchestra Part Two'', in May 1991, featuring songs written primarily by Troyer and Haycock. Mik Kaminski, Kelly Groucutt and Hugh McDowell, at the time working in a group called OrKestra, joined the group for their first tour in 1991. While McDowell did not stay, Groucutt and Kaminski became fully fledged members. In 1994, after the departure of Haycock and Lockwood, the remaining five members of Part II recorded '' Moment of Truth'' with their newest member, singer-songwriter and guitarist Phil Bates. This line-up toured up to 1999, following which Bates was replaced by Parthenon Huxley. Bevan retired from the line-up later that year and sold his share of the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 2000, after Lynne had expressed his dismay that in certain areas the band were billed as 'ELO', rather than with '...Part II' added, suggesting it was the original outfit. The remaining band members continued after they changed the group's name to The Orchestra. In 2001 The Orchestra released their debut (and so far only) album, '' No Rewind''. The Orchestra continues to tour, although Kaminski is the sole remaining member of the group to have been a member or affiliate of ELO, following Kelly Groucutt's death in 2009 and Louis Clark's in 2021.


2000–2001: Reformation

Lynne's comeback with ELO began in 2000 with the release of a retrospective box set, '' Flashback'', containing three CDs of remastered tracks and a handful of out-takes and unfinished works, most notably a new version of ELO's only UK number one hit, " Xanadu". In 2001 '' Zoom'', ELO's first album of new material since 1986, was released. Though billed and marketed as an ELO album, the only returning member other than Lynne was Tandy, who performed on one track. Guest musicians included former
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 ...
Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the group, us ...
and George Harrison. Upon completion of the album, Lynne re-formed the band with completely new members, including his then-girlfriend Rosie Vela (who had released her own album, '' Zazu'', in 1986) and announced that ELO would tour again. Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for two television live performances: '' VH1 Storytellers'' and a PBS concert shot at
CBS Television City Television City, alternatively CBS Television City, is a television studio complex located in the Fairfax District, Los Angeles, Fairfax District of Los Angeles, California, United States. The facilities are located at 7800 Beverly Boulevard, at ...
, later titled '' Zoom Tour Live'' and released on DVD. Besides Lynne, Tandy and Vela, the new live ELO line-up included Gregg Bissonette (drums, backing vocals), Matt Bissonette (bass guitar, backing vocals), Marc Mann (guitars, keyboards, backing vocals), Peggy Baldwin (cello), and Sarah O'Brien (cello). However, the planned tour was cancelled, reportedly due to poor ticket sales.


2001–2013: Non-performing work, reissues and miniature reunions

From 2001 to 2007,
Harvest Harvesting is the process of collecting plants, animals, or fish (as well as fungi) as food, especially the process of gathering mature crops, and "the harvest" also refers to the collected crops. Reaping is the cutting of grain or pulses fo ...
and Epic/
Legacy Legacy or Legacies may refer to: Arts and entertainment Comics * " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline * '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics * ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press * ''Legacy ...
reissued ELO's back catalogue. Included amongst the remastered album tracks were unreleased songs and outtakes, including two new singles. The first was " Surrender", which registered on the lower end of the UK Singles Chart at number 81, some 30 years after it was written in 1976. The other single was "Latitude 88 North". In August 2010, Eagle Rock Entertainment released '' Live – The Early Years'' in the UK as a DVD compilation that included '' Fusion – Live in London'' (1976) along with previously unreleased live performances at Brunel University (1973) and on the German TV show '' Rockpalast'' (1974). '' The Essential Electric Light Orchestra'' artwork was re-jigged to feature two different covers. The US and Australian releases shared one design, while the rest of the world featured the other for a new double album release in October 2011. '' Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra'' was released on 8 October 2012. It is an album of re-recordings of ELO's greatest hits, performed by Lynne exclusively, along with a new song titled "Point of No Return". Released to coincide with Lynne's second solo album, ''
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'', these new albums contained advertisement cards, announcing the re-release of expanded and remastered versions of both the 2001 album ''Zoom'' and Lynne's debut solo album, '' Armchair Theatre'', originally released in 1990. Both albums were re-released in April 2013 with various bonus tracks. Also released was the live album '' Electric Light Orchestra Live'', showcasing songs from the Zoom tour. All three releases also featured new studio recordings as bonus tracks. Though not billed as Electric Light Orchestra (or the abbreviated ELO), in 2012, Lynne and Tandy reunited, largely under Lynne's name, to perform stripped-down acoustic versions of their ELO hits for the BBC television special ''Jeff Lynne Acoustic: Live from Bungalow Palace''. Lynne and Tandy reunited again on 12 November 2013 to perform, under the name Jeff Lynne and Friends, "Livin' Thing" and "Mr. Blue Sky" at the Children in Need Rocks concert at Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, London. The backing orchestra was the BBC Concert Orchestra, with Chereene Allen on lead violin.


2014–present: Jeff Lynne's ELO

The success of the Children in Need performance was followed by support from BBC Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans, who had Lynne as his on-air guest and asked his listeners if they wanted to see ELO perform. The 50,000 tickets for the resulting BBC Radio 2's "Festival in a Day" in Hyde Park on 14 September 2014 sold out in 15 minutes. Billed as "Jeff Lynne's ELO", Lynne and Richard Tandy were backed by the Take That/ Gary Barlow band from the Children in Need concert, led by Mike Stevens and the BBC Concert Orchestra. Lynne chose to use the name as a response to ELO offshoots ELO Part II and The Orchestra. Chereene Allen was again the lead violinist for the band. The development of modern digital processing added a smoother finish to the work, which led Lynne to reconsider his preference for studio work, hinting at a UK tour in 2015. On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne's ELO played at the Grammy Awards for the first time. They performed a medley of " Evil Woman" and " Mr. Blue Sky" with
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, who introduced them as "A man and a band who I love". On 10 September 2015, it was announced that a new ELO album would be released. The album was to be under the moniker of Jeff Lynne's ELO, with the band signed to
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
. '' Alone in the Universe'' was released on 13 November 2015. The album was ELO's first album of new material since 2001's ''Zoom''. The first track, and single, "When I Was a Boy" was made available for streaming on the same day and a music video for the song was also released. A small promotional tour followed the album's release, which saw Jeff Lynne's ELO perform a full concert for '' BBC Radio 2'' along with their first two shows in the United States in 30 years, both which sold out very quickly. Jeff Lynne's ELO also made rare US television appearances on ''
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'', '' Jimmy Kimmel Live'' and '' CBS This Morning''. A 19-date European tour was announced for 2016, with the band playing the Pyramid Stage at
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on 26 June 2016. In 2017 they played their "Alone in the Universe" tour. That same year, on 7 April, they played at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as they were inducted during the 32nd Annual Induction Ceremony. The band continued to tour in 2018 in North America and Europe. A video was created for the City of Birmingham which used the original recording of "Mr. Blue Sky" as its music; this was played at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony during the handover presentation of Birmingham 2022. On 3 August 2018, '' Secret Messages'' was reissued "as originally conceived" as a double album. It included several cut tracks, such as the CD exclusive bonus track "Time After Time", B-side exclusives "Buildings Have Eyes" and "After All", the '' Afterglow'' exclusives "Mandalay" and "Hello My Old Friend", and the 2001 reissue exclusives "Endless Lies" and "No Way Out". On 22 October 2018, Lynne announced that Jeff Lynne's ELO would embark on a 2019 North American tour from June to August 2019. ELO released their 14th album, '' From Out of Nowhere'', on 1 November 2019. While a tour from the album was announced to begin in October 2020, the official Jeff Lynne's ELO
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page later announced that the tour was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. On 18 March 2024, ELO announced the Over And Out Tour, a final tour of North America that would span August to October 2024. Tandy died in 2024, at the age of 76. Lynne announced his death on social media on 1 May 2024, and said Tandy had been "a remarkable musician and friend." On 21 October 2024, it was announced that ELO would perform a farewell concert at the BST event in Hyde Park, London, on 13 July 2025. That same month, it was reiterated that Lynne was "unambiguous" about the tour being the band's last.


Legacy and influence

According to music journalist Simon Price, ELO is In November 2016, Jeff Lynne's ELO won Band of the Year at the Classic Rock Roll of Honour Awards. In October 2016, ELO were nominated for the 2017 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the first time. It was the first time the Hall had announced in advance the members of bands who would be inducted; the members of ELO listed were Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan and Richard Tandy. On 20 December 2016, it was announced ELO had been elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Class of 2017.


Members


Current

* Jeff Lynne – lead and backing vocals, guitars , bass , keyboards , drums


Former

* Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals * Roy Wood – lead and backing vocals, cello, oboe, bassoon, guitar * Rick Price – bass * Bill Hunt – French horn, keyboard *Steve Woolam – violin * Richard Tandy – piano, keyboards, synthesizer, guitar, backing vocals *Andy Craig – cello * Hugh McDowell – cello * Wilfred Gibson – violin * Mike Edwards – cello * Colin Walker – cello *Trevor Smith – cello, sound engineer * Glenn Hughes – bass, backing vocals * Mike de Albuquerque – bass, backing vocals * Mik Kaminski – violin * Kelly Groucutt – bass, lead and backing vocals * Melvyn Gale – cello


Discography

* '' The Electric Light Orchestra'' (1971) * '' ELO 2'' (1973) * '' On the Third Day'' (1973) * '' Eldorado'' (1974) * '' Face the Music'' (1975) * '' A New World Record'' (1976) * '' Out of the Blue'' (1977) * ''
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'' (1979) * '' Xanadu'' (1980) (with
Olivia Newton-John Dame Olivia Newton-John (26 September 1948 – 8 August 2022) was a British and Australian singer and actress. With over 100 million records sold, Newton-John was one of the List of best-selling music artists#100 million to 119 million record ...
) (soundtrack album) * ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' (1981) (credited as ELO) * '' Secret Messages'' (1983) * '' Balance of Power'' (1986) * '' Afterglow'' (1990) * '' Zoom'' (2001) * '' Alone in the Universe'' (2015) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO) * '' From Out of Nowhere'' (2019) (credited as Jeff Lynne's ELO)


Notes


References


Further reading

* Bevan, Bev ''The Electric Light Orchestra Story'' (London: Mushroom, 1980) * Van der Kiste, John ''Jeff Lynne: The Electric Light Orchestra, before and after'' (Stroud: Fonthill Media, 2015)


External links

* * * * * * {{Authority control Columbia Records artists English art rock groups English progressive rock groups English soft rock music groups English symphonic rock groups Epic Records artists Harvest Records artists Jet Records artists The Move Musical groups established in 1970 Musical groups disestablished in 1986 Musical groups reestablished in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Musical groups reestablished in 2014 Progressive pop groups Rock music groups from Birmingham, West Midlands United Artists Records artists Warner Records artists