Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for recording artists, his own bands, solo work, and films. He is the lead singer and guitarist for 1970s

soft rock Soft rock (also known as light rock or mellow rock) is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in the United States and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, mel ...

band

Player Player may refer to: Role or adjective * Player (game), a participant in a game or sport ** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games ** Athlete, a player in sports ** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who i ...

, which scored a U.S. number one hit in 1977 with " Baby Come Back".

Early life

Beckett was born in the

Aigburth Aigburth () is a suburb of Liverpool, England. Located to the south of the city, it is bordered by Toxteth and Dingle to the north, Mossley Hill to the east, and Garston to the south, with the River Mersey forming its western boundary. Desc ...

district of

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England on 10 August 1948. He was influenced by seeing

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 ...

perform at the famous

Cavern Club The Cavern Club is a music venue on Mathew Street, Liverpool, England. The Cavern Club opened on 16 January 1957 as a jazz club, later becoming a centre of the rock and roll scene in Liverpool in the late 1950s and early 1960s. The club becam ...

Career

At 16, he recorded his first record, "All Night Stand", with a band called the Thoughts. "All Night Stand" was written by

Ray Davies Sir Raymond Douglas Davies ( ; born 21 June 1944) is an English musician. He was the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter for the Rock music, rock band the Kinks, which he led, with his younger brother Dave Davies, Dave pro ...

from

the Kinks The Kinks were an English rock band formed in London in 1963 by brothers Ray Davies, Ray and Dave Davies, and Pete Quaife. They are regarded as one of the most influential rock bands of the 1960s. The band emerged during the height of British ...

. He then joined a band called Winston G and the Wicked, later renamed 'Whip'. After they disbanded, Beckett auditioned for

Badfinger Badfinger were a Welsh rock music, rock band formed in Swansea in 1961. Their best-known lineup consisted of Pete Ham (guitar), Mike Gibbins (drums), Tom Evans (musician), Tom Evans (bass), and Joey Molland (guitar). They are recognised for th ...

on the heels of " Come and Get It", and was on Peter Ham's and Tommy Evans' short list, but they ultimately offered the job to

Joey Molland Joseph Charles Molland II (21 June 1947 – 1 March 2025) was an English songwriter and rock guitarist whose recording career spanned five decades. He was best known as a member of Badfinger, the most successful of the acts he performed with. Mo ...

. Beckett then joined a progressive rock band called

Paladin The Paladins, also called the Twelve Peers (), are twelve legendary knights, the foremost members of Charlemagne's court in the 8th century. They first appear in the medieval (12th century) ''chanson de geste'' cycle of the Matter of France, wh ...

, recording two albums, ''Paladin'' and ''Paladin Charge!.'' Beckett moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, California in 1974 and performed with 'Skyband' before joining up with

JC Crowley John Charles Crowley (born November 13, 1947) is an American musician. In his career, he has been a member of the band Player (band), Player, has recorded one studio album "Beneath the Texas Moon" RCA Records 8370-2-R 1988 and charted several sin ...

Ronn Moss Ronald Montague Moss (born March 4, 1952) is an American actor, musician and singer/songwriter, a member of the band Player, and best known for portraying Ridge Forrester, the dynamic fashion magnate on the CBS soap opera ''The Bold and the ...

, and John Friesen in 1976 to form

. Player enjoyed a number one hit in 1978 with " Baby Come Back" – written by Beckett and

. After recording four albums, Player split up and Beckett began writing songs for other recording artists such as

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreogr ...

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 Temptations The Temptations is an American vocal group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1961 as The Elgins, known for their string of successful singles and albums with Motown from the 1960s to the mid-1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield ...

and

Kenny Rogers Kenneth Ray Rogers (born Kenneth Donald Rogers) (August 21, 1938 – March 20, 2020) was an American singer and songwriter. He was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, Country Music Hall of Fame in 2013. Rogers was particul ...

and for films and television during the 1980s. During the years 1982–88, Beckett joined with Steve Kipner and concentrated on songwriting for other major artists. In the late 1980s, the two formed Think Out Loud, releasing the eponymous ''Think Out Loud'' album in 1988 on

A&M Records A&M Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and functions as a branch of Interscope Geffen A&M Records, Interscope-Geffen-A&M. Established in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss, the label initially operated independent ...

. Nearly ten years later, the two produced a follow-up Think Out Loud album ''Shelf Life'', released on MTM Records in 1997. Beckett joined up with the

Little River Band Little River Band (LRB) are a rock band formed in Melbourne, Australia, in March 1975. The band achieved commercial success in both Australia and the United States. They have sold more than 30 million records; six studio albums reached the top ...

in 1989 and toured with them for over eight years. In 1991, Beckett released his first solo album, ''Beckett''. Getting back together with

in 1995, they recorded Player's fifth album, ''Lost in Reality'' and toured the United States. Since then, Beckett has produced, written and played on two solo albums for Ronn Moss and composed music for the soap opera ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''Th ...

,'' which starred Moss. Beckett and Moss had a world tour in 2006 which included some dates in the United States. Beckett is also working on a second solo album and continues to write film scores and material for other artists. In 2013, Player released ''Too Many Reasons'' on Frontiers Records. Beckett and Moss joined the Sail Rock Tour 2013 with

Christopher Cross Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1979), and " Arthur's Theme (Best ...

Gary Wright Gary Malcolm Wright (April 26, 1943 – September 4, 2023) was an American musician and composer best known for his 1976 hit songs " Dream Weaver" and " Love Is Alive". Wright's breakthrough album, '' The Dream Weaver'' (1975), came after he h ...

Al Stewart Alastair Ian Stewart (born 5 September 1945) is a British singer-songwriter and folk-rock musician who rose to prominence as part of the British folk revival in the 1960s and 1970s. He developed a unique style of combining folk-rock songs wi ...

, Orleans,

Firefall Firefall is an American soft rock band that formed in Boulder, Colorado, in 1974. It was founded by Rick Roberts (musician), Rick Roberts, former member of the Flying Burrito Brothers, and Jock Bartley, who had been Tommy Bolin's replacement ...

, Robbie Dupree and

John Ford Coley John Ford Coley (born John Edward Colley; October 13, 1948) is an American singer, classically trained pianist, guitarist, actor, and author most known for his partnership in the musical duo England Dan & John Ford Coley. Early life Coley was ...

, performing all over the United States and Canada. In 2015, they joined the Rock The Yacht tour with

Ambrosia In the ancient Greek mythology, Greek myths, ambrosia (, ) is the food or drink of the Greek gods, and is often depicted as conferring longevity or immortality upon whoever consumed it. It was brought to the gods in Mount Olympus, Olympus by do ...

, Robbie Dupree, Stephen Bishop and Little River Band. They also perform annually with The Yacht Rock Revue. Beckett is currently working on a country CD, Peter Beckett – Limey Cowboy and since September 2017 continues to tour with his band Peter Beckett's Player.

Discography

Studio albums

*''Beckett'' (1991)

with Player

* ''

'' (1977) * ''Danger Zone'' (1978) * ''Room with a View'' (1980) * ''Spies of Life'' (1981) * ''Electric Shadow'' (Japan) / ''Lost in Reality'' (US) (1995/1996) * ''Too Many Reasons'' (2013)

with Think Out Loud

* ''Think Out Loud'' (1988) * ''Shelf Life'' (1997)

with Ronn Moss

* ''I'm Your Man'' (2000) * ''Uncovered'' (2005)

Soundtrack appearances

* "Jenny" (from ''

Where the Boys Are '84 Where may refer to: * Where?, one of the Five Ws in journalism * where (command), a shell command * Where.com, a provider of location-based applications via mobile phones * ''Where'' (magazine), a series of magazines for tourists * "Where?", a ...

'') (1984) * "How Can the Girl Refuse" (from '' Major League'') (1989) * "Until You Let Go" with Jeanette Clinger (from '' Frankie and Johnny'') (1991)

Guest appearances

* "Stripe!" with Noriyuki Makihara (from ''Songs From N.Y.'') (2007)

References

External links

*
Peter Beckett's Player websiteOfficial Limey Cowboy website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beckett, Peter 1948 births Living people 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English rock singers English pop singers English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters British soft rock musicians Musicians from Liverpool Player (band) members Little River Band members RSO Records artists