Paul Josef Olsson (13 July 1969) is an American singer, most notable as being the lead singer for Alan Parsons Live Project. He has toured with various artists over his lifetime, including

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock, although their musical style has varied throughout their career. Originally for ...

Train A train (from Old French , from Latin">-4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... , from Latin , "to pull, to draw") is a series of connected vehicles th ...

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

Simple Minds Simple Minds are a Scottish Rock music, rock band formed in Glasgow in 1977, becoming best known internationally for their song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" (1985), which topped the ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' Billboard Hot 100, Hot 100 ...

Rufus Wainwright Rufus McGarrigle Wainwright (born July 22, 1973) is a Canadian and American singer, songwriter, and composer. He has recorded eleven studio albums and numerous tracks on compilations and film soundtracks. He has also written two classical opera ...

Earth, Wind & Fire Earth, Wind & Fire (abbreviated as EW&F or EWF) is an American band formed in Chicago, Illinois in 1969. Their music spans multiple genres, including jazz, R&B, soul, funk, disco, pop, Latin and Afro-pop. They are among the best-selling ba ...

, Wyclef,

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado ( , ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 45 million records, including 35 million in album sales worldwide, making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. Critics have noted ...

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, and

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

Biography

He was born in

Pontiac, Michigan Pontiac ( ') is a city in and the county seat of Oakland County, Michigan, Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. Located roughly northwest of downtown Detroit, Pontiac is part of the Metro Detroit, Detroit metropolitan area, and is vari ...

to a musical family. His father had a DMA in choral music and was an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

12-tone composer, A&R executive for

Motown Records Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

and later a professor at Michigan Tech; his mother was a music/voice major and schoolteacher. He started playing violin at age 6. PJ caught the attention of

Columbia records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, who in mid-2000 released the album ''Words For Living'' which received positive reviews in the United States. Olsson also made an appearance on the ''

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'', and his song "Ready for a Fall" was included on the soundtrack album for the television show ''

Dawson's Creek ''Dawson's Creek'' is an American teen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside, Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 19 ...

''. Olsson began collaborating with

Alan Parsons Alan Parsons (born 20 December 1948) is an English audio engineer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. Parsons was the sound engineer on albums including the Beatles' ''Abbey Road'' (1969) and '' Let It Be'' (1970), Pink Floyd's ''The ...

in 2004, first as a sound engineer, then as lead singer for the Alan Parsons Live Project. He has performed with many other notable acts, including

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

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Ben Harper Benjamin Charles Harper (born October 28, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. Harper plays an eclectic mix of blues, folk, soul, reggae, and rock music, and he is known for his guitar-playing skills, vocals, liv ...

, and Michelle Branch. In 2007 Olsson teamed up with Salman Ahmad to record a remake of the

Nick Lowe Nicholas Drain Lowe (born 24 March 1949) is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer. A noted figure in Pub rock (United Kingdom), pub rock, power pop and New wave music, new wave,(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" is a 1974 song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Lowe. Initially released by Lowe with his band Brinsley Schwarz on their 1974 album ''The New Favourites of... Brinsley Schwarz'', ...

", as the theme to

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

television show ''

Aliens in America ''Aliens in America'' is an American sitcom created by David Guarascio and Moses Port that aired on The CW for one season from October 1, 2007, to May 18, 2008. Guarascio and Port also served as executive producers of the show alongside Tim Doy ...

''.

Discography

Solo

* 1998: ''P.J. Olsson'' * 1999: ''Words for Living'' * 2005: ''Beautifully Insane'' * 2007: ''American Scream'' * 2013: ''Lasers and Trees''

with Alan Parsons

;Studio albums * 2004: ''A Valid Path'' - vocals, programming * 2019: ''The Secret'' - vocals on "Years of Glory" * 2022: ''From The New World'' - vocals, keyboards, programming, bass guitar ;Live albums * 2010: ''Eye 2 Eye: Live in Madrid'' - acoustic guitar, vocals * 2013: ''LiveSpan'' - vocals * 2016: ''Alan Parsons Symphonic Project, Live in Colombia'' - vocals, guitar ;Singles * 2010: ''All Our Yesterdays'' * 2014: ''Fragile'' * 2015: ''Do You Live at All''

Compilation appearances

* 1999: ''Songs from Dawson's Creek'' (various artists) - vocals on "Ready for a Fall"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsson, P.J. American male singers Singers from Michigan Living people 1969 births