Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band

Dexys Midnight Runners Dexys (known as Dexys Midnight Runners from 1978 to 2011) are an English pop rock band from Birmingham, with soul music, soul influences, who achieved major commercial success in the early to mid- 1980s. They are best known in the UK for their ...

(currently called Dexys). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being " Geno" and "

Come On Eileen "Come On Eileen" is a song by the English group Dexys Midnight Runners (credited to Dexys Midnight Runners and the Emerald Express), released in the United Kingdom in June 1982 as a single from their second studio album ''Too-Rye-Ay''. It reache ...

", both of which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.

Early life

Rowland was born in

Wednesfield Wednesfield () is a town and historic village in the City of Wolverhampton, in the county of the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England; it was historically within the county of Staffordshire. It is east-north-east of Wolverhampton cit ...

Staffordshire Staffordshire (; postal abbreviation ''Staffs''.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England. It borders Cheshire to the north-west, Derbyshire and Leicestershire to the east, ...

(now

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands of England. Located around 12 miles (20 km) north of Birmingham, it forms the northwestern part of the West Midlands conurbation, with the towns of ...

), on 17 August 1953 to Irish parents from Crossmolina, County Mayo, Ireland, and he lived for three years in Ireland from the age of one year old before returning to Wolverhampton. The family moved to Harrow when he was 11 and he left school aged 15. Before his music career, Rowland worked as a hairdresser.

Career

Rowland's first group, Lucy & the Lovers, were influenced by

Roxy Music Roxy Music are an English rock music, rock band formed in 1970 by Bryan Ferry (lead vocals/keyboards/principal songwriter) and Graham Simpson (musician), Graham Simpson (bass). By the time the band recorded their Roxy Music (album), first albu ...

and turned out to be short-lived. His next project, 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 ...

act the Killjoys, were slightly more successful, releasing the single "Johnny Won't Get To Heaven" in 1977. Alienated by the punk scene, Rowland, together with Killjoys guitarist Kevin Archer, formed a new soul-influenced group,

. Many of the group's songs were inspired by Rowland's Irish ancestry and were recognisable through Rowland's idiosyncratic vocal style. On forming the band Rowland thought it was "important to have a vocal style", he later recalled, "and I had the idea of putting that 'crying' voice on", partly inspired by General Johnson of Chairmen of the Board. The band had several hit singles, such as "

" (1982). At the end of the 1980s, Rowland wanted to explore different songwriting, and Dexys Midnight Runners began recording more "introspective, mournful" music. The new material was unsuccessful; Dexys Midnight Runners were dropped by their label and disbanded. Rowland said: "I'd been too confident, too arrogant. I thought everyone would hear our new music and go: 'Wow.'" He became reliant on drugs, lost his money, and entered rehab. When Dexys disbanded in 1987, Rowland recorded a solo album, '' The Wanderer'', which, together with its three singles, was a commercial failure. His next release was not until 1999 when he recorded a collection of interpretations of classic songs called '' My Beauty'', the album cover of which depicted a heavily made-up Rowland in a dress and lingerie. In 2003, Rowland reformed Dexys Midnight Runners—featuring only one other original member, bassist Pete Williams, who fulfilled the role as Rowland's co-vocalist—and embarked on a successful comeback tour backed up with a greatest hits compilation album including two newly recorded songs, "Manhood" and "My Life in England". Both of these new songs were radio tested by the record label, but neither received enough airplay to be considered for release. In 2012 Rowland re-launched Dexys Midnight Runners as "Dexys" with a new album '' One Day I'm Going to Soar'' accompanied by a UK tour. Rowland has always identified strongly with his Irish background and in 2016 Dexys released their fifth album, '' Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul'', featuring interpretations of Irish folk songs such as "Women of Ireland" and "Carrickfergus", among others. Since around 2005, Rowland has hosted a popular DJ tour in clubs and venues throughout the UK. His eclectic set includes his personal favourites, vintage soul and pop numbers from such notables as T-Rex,

, and Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. In summer of 2020 Rowland released a new video for the song ''

Rag Doll A rag doll is a doll made from scraps of fabric. They are one of the oldest children's toys in existence. Today, many rag dolls are commercially produced to mimic aspects of the original home-made dolls, such as simple features, soft cloth bodies, ...

'', a promo which features his grandson Roo. In September 2020, '' My Beauty'' was re-released by Cherry Red Records and finally became a UK chart hit in October, peaking at number 73 in the albums chart.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowland, Kevin 1953 births Living people People from Wednesfield English new wave musicians English people of Irish descent Dexys Midnight Runners members musicians from Wolverhampton Creation Records artists British male new wave singers English rock guitarists English rock singers English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English male guitarists People from Crossmolina