Martin David Fry (born 9 March 1958) is an English singer. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead vocalist of the pop band ABC, which released six singles that entered the top 20 charts in the United Kingdom during the 1980s, including " Tears Are Not Enough", "

Poison Arrow "Poison Arrow" is a song by the English New Wave and pop band ABC, released as the second single from their debut studio album, '' The Lexicon of Love'' (1982). It reached #6 in the United Kingdom. In the United States, it topped off at #24 ...

", " The Look of Love", " All of My Heart", " That Was Then but This Is Now" and " When Smokey Sings". He is the only member who has been with ABC throughout its entire history and is currently its only official member.

Early years

Martin David Fry was born on 9 March 1958 in

Stretford Stretford is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, sited on flat ground between the River Mersey and the Manchester Ship Canal; the Bridgewater Canal bisects the town. The town is located south of Manchester, south of Salfo ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(now part of the

Metropolitan Borough of Trafford Trafford is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England, with an estimated population of in . It covers and includes the area of Old Trafford and the towns of Altrincham, Stretford, Urmston, Partington and Sale. The borough wa ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

) and grew up in nearby Bramhall,

Stockport Stockport is a town in Greater Manchester, England, south-east of Manchester, south-west of Ashton-under-Lyne and north of Macclesfield. The River Goyt, Rivers Goyt and River Tame, Greater Manchester, Tame merge to create the River Mersey he ...

, alongside his younger brother Jamie, who later went on to join the

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band Earl Brutus. Fry was editing a fanzine titled ''Modern Drugs'' in 1978, and first met future ABC band members Mark White and Stephen Singleton while interviewing them for an article in the fanzine. White and Singleton, then fronting an electronic band called Vice Versa, invited Fry to join their band to play additional keyboards.

ABC

With Fry in place as lead vocalist and lyricist, Vice Versa changed their name to ABC and changed their sound to a contemporary pop style that at that time led them to be categorised with bands like

Duran Duran Duran Duran () are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. After several early changes, the band's line-up settled ...

Spandau Ballet Spandau Ballet ( ) were an English new wave band formed in Islington, London, in 1979. Inspired by the capital's post-punk underground dance scene, they emerged at the start of the 1980s as the house band for the Blitz Kids (New Romantics), ...

and

the Human League The Human League are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1977. Initially an experimental electronic music, electronic outfit, the group signed to Virgin Records in 1979 and later attained widespread commercial success with their t ...

. Between 1982 and 1991, ABC recorded six studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s ('' The Lexicon of Love'', '' Beauty Stab'', '' How to Be a ... Zillionaire!'', '' Alphabet City'', '' Up'' and ''

Abracadabra ''Abracadabra'' is a magic word, historically used as an Apotropaic magic, apotropaic incantation on amulets and common today in stage magic. The actual origin is unknown, but one of the first appearances of the word was in a second-century work ...

'') and released a greatest hits compilation album, '' Absolutely''. During this time, the band went through numerous personnel changes, with Fry and Mark White being its only permanent members. Following the ''Zillionaire'' album, ABC temporarily fell from prominence while Fry was being treated for

Hodgkin lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the lymph nodes. The condition was named a ...

, an uncommon

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

. In 1991, Mark White decided to retire from ABC. His departure was facilitated by a financial agreement, allowing him to leave the music industry and pursue personal interests, notably in

Reiki Reiki is a pseudoscientific form of energy healing, a type of alternative medicine originating in Japan. Reiki practitioners use a technique called ''palm healing'' or ''hands-on healing'' through which, according to practitioners, a " unive ...

therapy. This arrangement enabled ABC to continue its musical journey under the leadership of Martin Fry. ABC released their seventh studio album '' Skyscraping'', a homage to several of his musical heroes, including

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer, songwriter and actor. Regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Bowie was acclaimed by critics and musicians, pa ...

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 the

Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...

. The album was a collaboration with

Glenn Gregory Glenn Peter Gregory (born 16 May 1958) is a British singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the early 1980s as co-founder and lead singer of the new wave and synth-pop b ...

Heaven 17 Heaven 17 are an English synth-pop band formed in Sheffield in 1980. The band were a trio for most of their career, composed of founding Human League members Martyn Ware (keyboards, drum machine, vocals) and Ian Craig Marsh (keyboards) with voc ...

and Honeyroot's Keith Lowndes. The band has toured extensively and performed live at events such as the 2001

Night of the Proms Night of the Proms is a series of concerts held annually in Belgium (since 1985), the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg. Regularly there are also shows in France, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Denmark, the United States and Sweden. The c ...

, where Fry was supported by a 72-piece orchestra and 50-piece choir. In 2008, Fry released a new ABC studio album titled ''

Traffic Traffic is the movement of vehicles and pedestrians along land routes. Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic laws and informal rules that may have developed over time to facilitate the orderly an ...

''. In April 2009, Fry and original drummer David Palmer performed ''The Lexicon of Love'' album live at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. The band was accompanied by the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

Concert Orchestra.

Anne Dudley Anne Jennifer Dudley (née Beckingham; born 7 May 1956) is an English composer, keyboardist, conductor and pop musician. She was the first BBC Concert Orchestra's Composer in Association in 2001. She has worked in the classical and pop genre ...

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 ...

fame, who arranged and played keyboards on the original record, conducted the

performance. Fry and Palmer (as ABC) toured the U.S. as part of the 2009 'Regeneration Tour', which also featured

Terri Nunn Terri Kathleen Nunn (born June 26, 1961) is an American singer and actress. She is known as the vocalist of the 1980s New wave music, new wave and synth-pop band Berlin (band), Berlin. Biography Nunn was born in Los Angeles, California on June 2 ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, Wang Chung and the

Cutting Crew Cutting Crew is an English rock band formed in London in 1985. They are best known for their debut studio album ''Broadcast'' (1986) and their UK Top 40 hit singles, "(I Just) Died in Your Arms" and " I've Been in Love Before". History 1985� ...

. In April 2016, a single with a music video, "Viva Love" was released as a teaser for '' The Lexicon of Love II'' studio album. The album entered 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 ...

at No. 5, the band's highest chart position since 1982 and first top 10 entry since 1990.

Other work

Martin Fry - The Lexicon Of Love Orchestral Tour

Besides working with ABC, Fry has also recorded and toured with other artists. * In 1989, Fry recorded a song called "Mythical Girl" with Arthur Baker for Baker's album ''Merge'', a project that included songs with various artists, including ''Love Is the Message'' featuring

Al Green Albert Leornes Greene (born April 13, 1946), known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer. He is best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including " Tired of ...

. * Together with Mark White, Fry co-wrote and produced a couple of songs on Paul Rutherford's 1989 solo studio album '' Oh World'', including the single " Get Real". * In 1997, Fry contributed to

David Arnold David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is an English film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films (1997-2008), as well as ''Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998), '' Shaft'' (2000), '' 2 Fast 2 F ...

's '' Shaken and Stirred: The David Arnold James Bond Project'', an album made up of re-recordings of

James Bond The ''James Bond'' franchise focuses on James Bond (literary character), the titular character, a fictional Secret Intelligence Service, British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels ...

movie themes featuring vocals by contemporary artists. The song Fry performed was the theme of '' Thunderball''. * In 2005, Fry embarked on an extensive UK tour with

Tony Hadley Anthony Patrick Hadley (born 2 June 1960) is an English pop singer. He rose to fame in the 1980s as the lead singer of the New wave music, new wave band Spandau Ballet and launched a solo career following the group's split in 1990. Hadley retur ...

, former lead vocalist of popular 1980s new wave band

. Highlights of the tour were released on CD and DVD compilations, both titled ''Tony Hadley vs. Martin Fry''. * Fry appeared in the

BBC Television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

program '' Just the Two of Us'' in 2006. This was a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

competition in the style of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (commonly referred to as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly Ballroom dance, ballroom and Latin dance, Latin dance. Each couple is ...

'', but this time with contestants (one celebrity being a famous singer, the other celeb being a novice) judged upon their singing skills as part of a duet. He was teamed with TV presenter Gaby Roslin and they were eliminated in the first show after battling the team of

Nicky Campbell Nicholas Andrew Argyll Campbell OBE (born Nicholas Lackey; 10 April 1961) is a Scottish broadcaster and journalist. He has worked in television and radio since 1981 and as a network presenter with BBC Radio since 1987. Early life Campbell wa ...

and

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

. * Fry was featured extensively in the 2006

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

mini-series ''100 Greatest Songs of the 80's,'' which featured ABC's 1982 single " The Look of Love" ranked No. 43. * Fry worked on several songs for the 2007 film ''

Music and Lyrics ''Music and Lyrics'' is a 2007 American Musical film, musical romantic comedy, romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Marc Lawrence (filmmaker), Marc Lawrence. It focuses on the relationship that evolves between a former pop music ido ...

'' starring

Hugh Grant Hugh John Mungo Grant (born 9 September 1960) is an English actor. He established himself early in his career as a charming and vulnerable romantic leading man, and has since transitioned into a character actor. He has received List of awards ...

and

Drew Barrymore Drew Blythe Barrymore (born February 22, 1975) is an American actress, talk show host, and businesswoman. A member of the Barrymore family of actors, she has received multiple List of awards and nominations received by Drew Barrymore, awards a ...

. Fry also served as Grant's vocal coach for the film. * Fry toured the US in the summer of 2008 with the Regeneration Tour 2008, a show that also featured

as the headliners,

Belinda Carlisle Belinda Jo Carlisle ( ; born August 17, 1958) is an American singer and songwriter. She gained fame as the lead vocalist of the Go-Go's, one of the most successful all-female rock bands of all time, and went on to have a prolific career as a sol ...

A Flock of Seagulls A Flock of Seagulls are an English new wave band formed in Liverpool in 1979. The group, whose best-known line-up comprised Mike Score, Ali Score, Frank Maudsley and Paul Reynolds, hit the peak of their chart success in the early 1980s. I ...

, and Naked Eyes.

Personal life

On 19 July 2012, Fry received an honorary

Doctor of Music The Doctor of Music degree (DMus, DM, MusD or occasionally MusDoc) is a doctorate awarded on the basis of a substantial portfolio of compositions, musical performances, and/or scholarly publications on music. In some institutions, the award is a ...

degree from the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

for his contribution of more than 30 years to music. The following day, his daughter, Nancy received her degree from the Department of Sociological Studies from the same university. As of 2016, he has been married to his wife Julie for more than 30 years.

Discography

ABC

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fry, Martin 1958 births 20th-century English male singers 21st-century English male singers 20th-century English male musicians 21st-century English male musicians ABC (band) members English record producers English male songwriters English tenors Living people English male new wave singers English new wave singers Musicians from Greater Manchester People educated at Bramhall High School People from Bramhall Sophisti-pop musicians British synth-pop singers