Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949) is an English musician, singer-songwriter and writer, best known for being the lead vocalist and lead guitarist for the

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and new wave band

the Stranglers The Stranglers are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the ...

from 1974 to 1990. Since leaving the Stranglers, Cornwell has recorded a further ten solo studio albums and continues to record and perform live.

Early life and career

Cornwell grew up in

Tufnell Park Tufnell Park is an area in north London, England, in the London boroughs of London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Camden, Camden. The neighbourhood is served by Tufnell Park tube station on the Northern Line. History ...

and

Kentish Town Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town, close to Hampstead Heath. Kentish Town likely derives its name from Ken-ditch or Caen-ditch, meaning the "bed of a waterw ...

. He attended

William Ellis School William Ellis School is a voluntary aided secondary school and sixth form for boys located in Gospel Oak, London, England. Admissions The School is located near Hampstead Heath in north London. It is situated just east of Parliament Hill an ...

Highgate Highgate is a suburban area of N postcode area, north London in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden, London Borough of Islington, Islington and London Borough of Haringey, Haringey. The area is at the north-eastern corner ...

, where he played bass in a band with Richard Thompson, later a member of

folk rock Folk rock is a fusion genre of rock music with heavy influences from pop, English and American folk music. It arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music re ...

band

Fairport Convention Fairport Convention are an English British folk rock, folk rock band, formed in 1967 by guitarists Richard Thompson (musician), Richard Thompson and Simon Nicol, bassist Ashley Hutchings and drummer Shaun Frater (with Frater replaced by Marti ...

. In the late 1960s, after earning a bachelor's degree in

biochemistry Biochemistry, or biological chemistry, is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology, a ...

from the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

, he embarked on post-graduate research at

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

in Sweden. Not long after his arrival he formed the band Johnny Sox.Gimarc, George (2005) ''Punk Diary: The Ultimate Trainspotter's Guide to Underground Rock 1970-1982'', Backbeat Books, , pp. 9, 262

The Stranglers

Cornwell returned to the UK in 1974 with Johnny Sox (minus Hans Wärmling). Drummer Jet Black then joined the band. At one stage it was just Cornwell and Black, who were then joined by bassist Jean-Jacques Burnel. Guitarist, keyboardist and saxophonist Hans Wärmling, on holiday from Sweden, joined the line-up towards the end of 1974. The Johnny Sox name was dropped, with the band adopting the name the Guildford Stranglers before settling on the Stranglers. Hugh Cornwell-FR3-1983

Wärmling was soon replaced by Dave Greenfield, who joined in 1975 after answering an advertisement placed in the ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' magazine. Cornwell was the lead guitarist in the group and he also sang the majority of songs, with Burnel handling lead vocals on about a third of the band's songs. Years later, Burnel recalled that he often sang lyrics written by Cornwell, and vice versa, depending on "who had the best voice for that particular song". By 1977, the group had secured a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording act (artist or group), where the act makes an audio recording (or series of recordings) for the label to sell and ...

with

United Artists Records United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1958 ...

. They went on to become the most commercially successful band to emerge from the UK punk scene, with numerous hit singles and record albums. Cornwell recorded his first studio album away from the group, ''

Nosferatu ''Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror'' () is a 1922 silent film, silent German Expressionism (cinema), German Expressionist vampire film directed by F. W. Murnau from a screenplay by Henrik Galeen. It stars Max Schreck as Count Orlok, a vampire who ...

'', in collaboration with the

Captain Beefheart Don Van Vliet (; born 'Don Glen Vliet'; January 15, 1941 – December 17, 2010) was an American singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and visual artist known by the stage name Captain Beefheart. Conducting a rotating ensemble known as the M ...

's Magic Band's drummer,

Robert Williams Robert, Rob, Robbie, Bob or Bobby Williams may refer to: Architecture * Train %26 Williams#Robert Edmund Williams, Robert Edmund Williams (1874–1960), Canadian-American architect * Robert Williams (architect) (1848–1918), Welsh architect a ...

, in 1979. Cornwell's first solo studio album, ''

Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, includin ...

'' (1988) was produced by Ian Ritchie with additional production on two tracks by

Clive Langer Clive Langer (born 19 June 1954) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Alan Winstanley. He composed the music for the films '' Still Crazy'' and '' Brothers of the Head''. Biog ...

and

Alan Winstanley Alan Kenneth Winstanley (; born 2 November 1952) is an English record producer and songwriter, active from the mid-1970s onwards. He usually works with Clive Langer. Early life He was born in Fulham in November 1952 to parents Ken and Doreen. ...

, who had engineered the first three Stranglers albums and produced their fourth studio album, ''

The Raven "The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe. First published in January 1845, the poem is often noted for its musicality, stylized language and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a distraught lover who is paid a visit ...

'' (1979). Throughout his Stranglers career, Cornwell used a Black

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele (), is an electric guitar produced by Fender (company), Fender. Together with its sister model the Fender Esquire, Esquire, it was the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes ...

all the way from 1974 until 1989 when he adopted a

Gibson Melody Maker The Gibson Melody Maker is an electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation. It has had many body shape variations since its conception in 1959. Model history Regular issue (1959–71) The original Gibson Melody Maker was first launch ...

for the 10 Tour. He also used a Hofner Razorwood for the La Folie Tour in 1981-82 for certain songs which required distinctive sounds. He also used a bass guitar when performing "Dead Loss Angeles" on The Raven tour in 1979 and was instrumental in teaching Stranglers bassist Jean Jacques Burnel how to play bass guitar. The-Stranglers-Palace-1979

In 1990, due to growing tensions within the band and a constant clash with Burnel, he decided that he could go no further artistically. He recorded the album '' 10'' with the band before leaving them after 16 years.

Post-Stranglers solo career

After leaving the Stranglers, Cornwell worked with Roger Cook and Andy West as CCW. Their self-titled studio album was released in 1992, with five of the ten tracks co-produced by Neil Davidge. ''Wired'' (1993), produced by

Gary Langan Gary Michael Langan (born 19 April 1956) is an English engineer, record producer, mixer and musician. Biography Langan's career started at age 18 when he worked as an assistant engineer at Sarm East Studios, learning the craft from Gary Lyons ...

(

Art of Noise Art of Noise (also the Art of Noise) were a British avant-garde synth-rock group formed in early 1983 by engineer/producer Gary Langan and programmer J. J. Jeczalik, along with keyboardist/arranger Anne Dudley, producer Trevor Horn, and ...

) with the exception of "Ain't It Strange", which was produced by Cornwell; ''Guilty'' (1997); ''Hi Fi'' (2000) (both produced by Laurie Latham). ''HiFi'' was released on 180g vinyl in 2020 through HIS Records Ltd with a new remix by Hugh Cornwell and a remaster. ''Footprints in the Desert'' released in 2002 is Cornwell's second "lost album" and compiles rare and unreleased tracks from the mid-1990s, that were not part of a record deal. It was recorded in

Bath Bath may refer to: * Bathing, immersion in a fluid ** Bathtub, a large open container for water, in which a person may wash their body ** Public bathing, a public place where people bathe * Thermae, ancient Roman public bathing facilities Plac ...

with James Kadsky, who engineered the album ''

Wired Wired may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * ''Wired'' (Jeff Beck album), 1976 * ''Wired'' (Hugh Cornwell album), 1993 * ''Wired'' (Mallory Knox album), 2017 * "Wired", a song by Prism from their album '' Beat Street'' * "Wired ...

'' (1993). '' Beyond Elysian Fields'' (2004) was produced by

Tony Visconti Anthony Edward Visconti (born April 24, 1944) is an American record producer, musician and singer. Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers. His first hit single was T. Rex's " Ride a White Swan" in 1970, the first of man ...

MusicOMH ''MusicOMH'' (stylized as ''musicOMH'') is a London-based online music magazine which publishes independent reviews, features and interviews from across all genres including classical, metal, rock and R&B. History ''MusicOMH'' was founded an ...

described it as "something like a cross between obDylan and

Dire Straits Dire Straits were a British rock band formed in London in 1977 by Mark Knopfler (lead vocals, lead guitar), David Knopfler (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), John Illsley (bass guitar, backing vocals) and Pick Withers (drums, percussion). Th ...

at their best...with a dash of Travelling Wilburys for good measure". ''Beyond Elysian Fields'' was released on 180g vinyl in 2020 on HIS Records Ltd. In June 2008, Cornwell followed in the footsteps of

Radiohead Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon-on-Thames, Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band members are Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Gre ...

and

Nine Inch Nails Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN (stylized as NIИ), is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland, Ohio in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent col ...

by initially offering his new album, '' Hooverdam'', as a free download on his website. The album was recorded at

Toe Rag Studios Toe Rag Studios is an analogue recording studio located in Hackney, London, England. History The studio was founded in 1991 by Liam Watson and Josh Collins in the Shoreditch area of London. In 1997, the business relocated to Hackney due to ...

with record producer, Liam Watson. It was accompanied by a film, ''Blueprint'', which depicted the recording process of the album. Cornwell explained that the film was partly motivated by the risible quality of the DVDs accompanying contemporary CD releases. ''Blueprint'' was described as "an engrossing film that borrows from ean-LucGodard's ''

Sympathy for the Devil "Sympathy for the Devil" is a song by English rock band the Rolling Stones. The song was written by Mick Jagger and credited to the Jagger–Richards partnership. It is the opening track on the band's 1968 Studio album, album ''Beggars Banquet ...

'' and ormanJewison's '' The Thomas Crown Affair''". The studio album ''

Totem and Taboo ''Totem and Taboo: Resemblances Between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'', or ''Totem and Taboo: Some Points of Agreement between the Mental Lives of Savages and Neurotics'' (), is a 1913 book by Sigmund Freud, the founder of psychoana ...

'' followed in 2012; engineered and mixed by

Steve Albini Steven Frank Albini (; July 22, 1962 – May 7, 2024) was an American musician and audio engineer. He founded and fronted the influential post-hardcore and noise rock bands Big Black (1981–1987), Rapeman (1987–1989) and Shellac (band), ...

, it was described as "Cornwell's finest and most unashamedly epic moment since the punk era". Prior to a Scottish tour that year '' The Herald'' wrote "The album yields its eloquent lyrical strengths on repeated listenings: stand-out tracks include the evocative 'A Street Called Carroll', 'Love Me Slender', 'I Want One of Those', a commentary on consumerism, and, unquestionably best of all, the atmospheric, nine minute noir epic, 'In the Dead of Night', which should become a live favourite. Cornwell's forthcoming tour sees him play the new album and the Stranglers' landmark 1977 record, ''No More Heroes'', but ''Totem and Taboo'' is strong enough on its own." A review on the Witchdoctor.co.nz website stated that "In a world or egotistic over-achieving and slack-arse under-achieving, Hugh Cornwell knows how to play it just right, and ''Totem & Taboo'' is a master class in sticking to your guns and doing what you do well". In 2016, Cornwell collaborated with performance poet John Cooper Clarke to create the album '' This Time It's Personal'', a collection of classic American and British pop songs from their youth. Cornwell had the idea that Clarke should apply his distinctive vocals to "

MacArthur Park MacArthur Park (originally Westlake Park) is a park dating back to the late 19th century in the Westlake, Los Angeles, Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In the early 1940s, it was renamed after General Douglas MacArthur, and la ...

" and the project grew from there. Jethro Tull's

Ian Anderson Ian Scott Anderson (born 10 August 1947) is a British musician best known for being the chief vocalist, Flute, flautist, and acoustic guitarist of the British rock band Jethro Tull (band), Jethro Tull. He is a multi-instrumentalist who also p ...

also makes an appearance on flute. The album was described as "a modern masterpiece from 'Punk's Progressive Alliance'" by Louder Than War. In 2018, Cornwell signed to Sony as a solo artist and released ''

Monster A monster is a type of imaginary or fictional creature found in literature, folklore, mythology, fiction and religion. They are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes Anxiety, terror ...

''. On this album, Cornwell sang about

Evel Knievel Robert Craig Knievel (October 17, 1938November 30, 2007), known professionally as Evel Knievel (), was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Throughout his career, he attempted List of Evel Knievel career jumps, more than 75 ramp-to-ra ...

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

, Hedy Lamarr,

Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...

Phil Silvers Phil Silvers (born Phillip Silver; May 11, 1911 – November 1, 1985) was an American entertainer and comedic actor, known as "The King of Chutzpah". His career as a professional entertainer spanned nearly 60 years. He achieved major popularity w ...

and many more. The title track "Monster" pays tribute to special effects wizard

Ray Harryhausen Raymond Frederick Harryhausen (June 29, 1920 – May 7, 2013) was an American-British animator and special effects creator who is regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of both fields. In a career spanning more than 40 ...

, of whom

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

said "Without Ray Harryhausen, there would likely have been no ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

''". Aaron Badgley of ''The Spill Magazine'' wrote that "This is perhaps his strongest solo album since 1997's ''Guilty'', and it might be even better than that album... Cornwell is a genius and ''Monster'' is just another example of his brilliant work."

Film, theatre, television and podcast

Cornwell has an interest in acting, and has appeared in a number of productions. In the early 1980s, he appeared in ''Charlie's Last Stand'' with Bob Hoskins and Stephen Rea at the

Almeida Theatre The Almeida Theatre is a 325-seat producing house located on Almeida Street off Upper Street in the London Borough of Islington. The theatre opened in 1980, and produces a diverse range of drama. Successful plays are often transferred to West E ...

, London. He also appeared in the 1987 Peter Richardson film '' Eat the Rich'', the award-winning BBC '' Screen Two'' series (successor to ''

Play for Today ''Play for Today'' is a British television anthology drama series, produced by the BBC and transmitted on BBC1 from 1970 to 1984. During the run, more than three hundred programmes, featuring original television plays, and adaptations of stage ...

'') and in the 1995 BBC production, ''Rumble''. He has also appeared in a number of videos and short films, including Bertrand Fèvre's ''L'étoile de sang''. Cornwell hosts Mr Demille FM, a

podcast A podcast is a Radio program, program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. Typically, a podcast is an Episode, episodic series of digital audio Computer file, files that users can download to a personal device or str ...

that takes his passion for film and explores it through interviews and episodes on careers and themes. Guests have included

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...

Brian Eno Brian Peter George Jean-Baptiste de la Salle Eno (, born 15 May 1948), also mononymously known as Eno, is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, visual artist, and activist. He is best known for his pioneering contributions to ambien ...

and Sir

David Puttnam David Terence Puttnam, Baron Puttnam, CBE, HonFRSA, HonFRPS, MRIA (; born 25 February 1941), is a British-Irish film producer, educator, environmentalist and former member of the House of Lords. His productions include '' Chariots of Fire' ...

Cricket

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

fan, Cornwell appeared on the ''

Jamie Theakston James Paul Theakston (born 21 December 1970) is an English television presenter, producer, narrator and actor. He has hosted television programmes for the BBC, ITV (TV network), ITV, Channel 4 and 5 (British TV channel), Channel 5. He co-present ...

Cricket Show'' on

BBC Radio 5 Live BBC Radio 5 Live is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It broadcasts mainly news, sport, Talk show, discussion, interviews and phone-ins, and is on air 24 hours a day. It is the principal BBC radio station Broadca ...

in 2001. He played a live acoustic version of " (Get A) Grip (On Yourself)" with the then

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 ...

batsman and guitarist Mark Butcher. Cornwell subsequently became a player with Bunbury Cricket Club, and has been a guest on "A View from the Boundary" on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

's ''

Test Match Special ''Test Match Special'' (also known as ''TMS'') is a British sports radio programme, originally, as its name implies, dealing exclusively with Test cricket matches, but currently covering any professional cricket. The programme is available on BB ...

'' and BBC Radio 5 Live's ''Yes It's the Ashes''.

Books

Cornwell has written six books: * ''Inside Information'' (1980) tells of the time he spent in

HM Prison Pentonville HM Prison Pentonville (informally "The Ville") is an English Category B men's prison, operated by His Majesty's Prison Service. Pentonville Prison is not in Pentonville, but is located further north, on the Caledonian Road in the Barnsbury ar ...

for drug possession * ''The Stranglers – Song by Song'' (2001) guides the reader through all of the Stranglers catalogue * ''A Multitude of Sins'' (2004) is his autobiography * ''Window on the World'' (July 2011) is a novel * ''Arnold Drive'', , was published in 2014. It is a novel. * ''Future Tense,'' was published on 8 October 2020 by HIS.

Discography

Studio albums

*''

'' (1988) *''

'' (1993) (US title: ''First Bus to Babylon'', 1999) *'' Guilty'' (1997) (US title: ''Black Hair, Black Eyes, Black Suit'', 1999) *''

Hi Fi High fidelity (hi-fi or, rarely, HiFi) is the high-quality reproduction of sound. It is popular with audiophiles and home audio enthusiasts. Ideally, high-fidelity equipment has inaudible noise and distortion (music), distortion, and a flat (ne ...

'' (2000) *'' Footprints in the Desert'' (2002) *'' Beyond Elysian Fields'' (2004) *'' Hooverdam'' (2008) *''

'' (2012) *''

'' (2018) *'' Moments of Madness'' (2022)

Live albums

*''

Mayday Mayday is an emergency procedure word used internationally as a distress signal in voice-procedure radio communications. It is used to signal a life-threatening emergency primarily by aviators and mariners, but in some countries local organiz ...

'' (download: 1999, CD: 2002) *''

Solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

'' (1999) (*) *''In the Dock'' (2003) (*) *''Live It and Breathe It'' (2005) (selected highlights from ''People, Places, Pieces'') *'' Dirty Dozen'' (2006) (selected highlights from ''People, Places, Pieces'') *'' People, Places, Pieces'' - 3CD box set (2006) *'' Beyond Acoustic Fields'' (2007) (live in-studio acoustic recording of '' Beyond Elysian Fields'', limited edition to buy on tour only) (*) *''New Songs for King Kong'' - 2CD (2010) *''Live at the Vera'' - 2CD (2014) :Note: Albums marked with asterisk (*) indicate solo live performances; all others are band performances.

Compilation albums

*''You're Covered'' (2011) (limited to 250 copies on Cornwell's 2011 tour, features covers of Cornwell's influences) *'' The Fall and Rise of Hugh Cornwell'' (2015)

Collaborations

*''

'' (1979) – Hugh Cornwell and

*'' CCW'' (1992) – CCW featuring Hugh Cornwell, Roger Cook and Andy West *''Sons of Shiva'' (download: 1999, CD: 2002) – Sons of Shiva (Sons of Shiva are Cornwell and poet Sex W. Johnston (actually John W. Sexton)) * '' This Time It's Personal'' (2016) – John Cooper Clarke and Hugh Cornwell

References

External links

* * * *
Hugh Cornwell solo photo resource

Hugh Cornwell interviews at www.strangled.co.uk

PledgeMusic Totem and Taboo projectMr Demille FM
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cornwell, Hugh 1949 births Living people 20th-century English male singers 20th-century English singers 21st-century English male singers 21st-century English singers Alumni of the University of Bristol English autobiographers English romantic fiction writers English lead guitarists English punk rock guitarists English punk rock singers English rock singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English rock guitarists English male new wave singers English new wave singers English male guitarists Musicians from the London Borough of Camden Musicians from the London Borough of Islington People educated at William Ellis School People from Highgate People from Kentish Town People from Tufnell Park Singers from the London Borough of Camden Singers from the London Borough of Islington The Stranglers members