Jonathan Francis Gray (born 4 February 1966), known professionally as Spike, or Spike Gray, is an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the British rock band

the Quireboys The Quireboys are an English rock band formed in 1984 in London, with strong ties to Newcastle. Originally known as The Choirboys, then The Queerboys, billed as The London Quireboys in the United States and Canada, settling at last with their ...

, for whom he performs as lead singer and has released 13 studio albums. He is recognised for his raspy voice which led to comparisons with

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British singer and songwriter. Known for his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists of all time, having sold ...

. As a solo performer, Spike has collaborated with Tyla of

The Dogs D'Amour The Dogs D'Amour are an English bluesey hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla. Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the ...

, and released five solo studio albums. In March 2022, fellow Quireboys members claimed that Spike had been fired from the band, which Spike disputed. Spike proceeded to form a new version of the band, with his ex-bandmates changing their name.

Career

Jonathan Gray was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and grew up in

Northern England Northern England, or the North of England, refers to the northern part of England and mainly corresponds to the Historic counties of England, historic counties of Cheshire, Cumberland, County Durham, Durham, Lancashire, Northumberland, Westmo ...

. At age 17, he moved down to London where, eventually, he would form the rock band

with Guy Bailey in 1984. After various tours and singles, Spike with the Quireboys released their debut album ''

A Bit of What You Fancy ''A Bit of What You Fancy'' is the debut studio album by the English rock band the Quireboys. It was released by EMI on 29 January 1990, and produced by George Tutko and Jim Cregan. ''A Bit of What You Fancy'' remains the Quireboys' most commer ...

'' (1990), which went to number two on 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 ...

. The band gained significant success, but their second album '' Bitter Sweet & Twisted'' (1993) did not quite have the impact of the first. After the Quireboys split up in 1993, he played in the United States, in Los Angeles, California, with a band called God's Hotel. He also sang lead vocals on a cover of

Hank Williams Hiram "Hank" Williams (September 17, 1923 – January 1, 1953) was an American singer, songwriter, and musician. An early pioneer of country music, he is regarded as one of the most significant and influential musicians of the 20th century. W ...

's country classic " Hey Good Lookin'", with

C.C. DeVille Bruce Anthony Johannesson (born May 14, 1962), known professionally as C.C. DeVille, is an American musician, best known as the guitarist of the rock band Poison. The band has sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, including 15 million in ...

from the American glam-metal band

Poison A poison is any chemical substance that is harmful or lethal to living organisms. The term is used in a wide range of scientific fields and industries, where it is often specifically defined. It may also be applied colloquially or figurati ...

, for the soundtrack of the comedy film ''

Son in Law In law and in cultural anthropology, affinity is the kinship relationship created or that exists between two people as a result of someone's marriage. It is the relationship each party in the marriage has to the family of the other party in th ...

'' (1993) that starred

Pauly Shore Paul Montgomery Shore (born February 1, 1968) is an American comedian and actor. He is best known for his roles in 1990s comedy films. Shore began as a stand-up comedian at the age of 17, before becoming an MTV VJ in 1989. This led to a starring ...

. Spike decided to record in other projects; the first was in 1994 with Darrell Bath of the English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

band

the Dogs D'Amour The Dogs D'Amour are an English bluesey hard rock band formed in London in 1983. Over the years the band has had various line-ups, the only constant being vocalist Tyla. Their music has been described as a mixture of the Rolling Stones, the ...

. The recording, ''Take Out Some Insurance'', was an album of covers, featuring songs from old

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

artists, and was released under the artist name Spike an' Darrell. Soon after, Spike moved back to Newcastle and, in 1996, he recorded with another member of the Dogs D'Amour this time it was frontman Tyla, with whom he recorded the album ''Flagrantly Yours'', under the artist name Spike and Tyla's Hot Knives. In 1998, Spike recorded his first solo album ''Blue Eyed Soul''. The Quireboys reformed in 2001 with a new line-up and have released six new albums since that time. Spike's second solo studio album, ''It's a Treat to Be Alive'', was released in 2005, followed by ''So Called Friends'' in 2008. Spike was involved in a fracas with German rock guitarist

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group (MSG). He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf S ...

in November 2000. This happened after a show at the

Newcastle City Hall The Newcastle City Hall (currently known as O2 City Hall Newcastle for sponsorship reasons) is a concert hall located in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It has hosted many popular music and classical artists throughout the years, as well as sta ...

by the English heavy-metal and

hard-rock Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the garage, psychedelic and blues rock movements. Some of the earliest hard rock mu ...

band

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO) is an object or phenomenon seen in the sky but not yet identified or explained. The term was coined when United States Air Force (USAF) investigations into flying saucers found too broad a range of shapes ...

. Schenker later admitted he caused the brawl, and refused to blame Spike. The Quireboys have since played on the same bill as the hard-rock band

Michael Schenker Group The Michael Schenker Group (often abbreviated as MSG) is an English hard rock band, formed in London in 1979 by former Scorpions and UFO guitarist Michael Schenker. After the release of their second live album, 1984's '' Rock Will Never Die'', ...

. In 2006, Spike released his second studio album ''It's a Treat to Be Alive'' through Demolition Records. It was described by the ''

Belfast Telegraph The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media, which also publishes the Irish Independent, the Sunday Independent and various other newspapers and magazines in Ireland. Its e ...

'' as "more than decent collection", noting its "bluesy" influences. In 2007, Spike became part of Damage Control, a British supergroup formed by guitarist

Robin George Robin Charles George Sidebotham (8 April 1956 - 26 April 2024) was a British rock guitarist, singer, songwriter, composer and producer, born in Wolverhampton, Staffordshire (now the West Midlands). He achieved success during 1985 with the so ...

, UFO bassist

Pete Way Peter Frederick Way (7 August 1950 – 14 August 2020) was an English bassist. He was the co-founder and original bassist of the rock band UFO from 1968 to 1982; he briefly rejoined the band in 1988–1989 and full-time from 1991 to 2008. He ...

and

Chris Slade Chris Slade (born Christopher Slade Rees; 30 October 1946) is a Welsh drummer, who is perhaps best known for playing for Manfred Mann's Earth Band from its inception in 1971 to 1978 on eight albums, and AC/DC, for which he drummed from 1989 to ...

, former drummer with the Australian hard-rock band

AC/DC AC/DC are an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1973. Their music has been variously described as hard rock, blues rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal, although the band calls it simply "rock and roll". They are cited as a formativ ...

. The group released a self-titled album on Cargo Records which was generally well received. Over the years, Spike has also provided vocals for a number of songs on various American rock

tribute album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

s, specifically: the

power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Balla ...

Don't Cry "Don't Cry" is a song by American hard rock band Guns N' Roses, two versions of which were released simultaneously on different albums. The version with the original lyrics is the fourth track on '' Use Your Illusion I'' (1991), while the versio ...

" on ''Uncivil War'', a tribute album to the hard-rock band

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band formed in Los Angeles, California in 1985 as a merger of local bands L.A. Guns and Hollywood Rose. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band's "classic" line-up consisted of vocalist Axl R ...

; a cover of the rock band

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; ; lit. "Shuddering"), also called the River Styx, is a goddess and one of the rivers of the Greek Underworld. Her parents were the Titans Oceanus and Tethys, and she was the wife of the Titan Pallas and the moth ...

's song "Lady" on the album ''A Tribute to Styx''; rock musician

Ted Nugent Theodore Anthony Nugent (; born December 13, 1948) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He goes by several nicknames, including Uncle Ted, the Nuge, and Motor City Madman. Nugent initially gained fame as the le ...

's "Need You Bad" on the album ''The World's Greatest Tribute to Ted Nugent''; and the rock band

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Sayreville, New Jersey in 1983. The band consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarists John Shanks and Phil X, percussionist Everett Bradley ...

's ballad "Living in Sin" on the album ''Covered Dead or Alive''. Spike also collaborated with the American

electronica Electronica is both a broad group of electronic-based music styles intended for listening rather than strictly for dancing and a music scene that came to prominence in the early 1990s in the United Kingdom. In the United States, the term is mos ...

artist David Madden (also sometimes known as DJ Webern and Nonnon) on a version of the English heavy-metal band

Judas Priest Judas Priest are an English heavy metal band formed in Birmingham in 1969. They have sold over 50 million albums and are frequently ranked as one of the greatest metal bands of all time. Judas Priest have also been referred to as one of the p ...

's song " Rock Forever" for ''An Industrial Tribute to Judas Priest''. Spike is known to have contributed backing vocals on the following recordings: * ''Gang Bang'' (1997) an

extended-play An extended play (EP) is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 15 to 30 minutes. An EP is usually less cohesive ...

(EP) album by the Gangbang Band (also featuring members of the Finnish hard-rock band

Hanoi Rocks Hanoi Rocks were a Finnish Rock music, rock band formed in 1979. They were the first Finnish band to chart in the UK and they were also popular in Japan. By 1984, the band was considered to be on the verge of an international breakthrough when ...

and the Babysitters); a live session * ''

Company Of Wolves ''The Company of Wolves'' is a 1984 British Gothic fantasy horror film directed by Neil Jordan and starring Angela Lansbury, David Warner, Micha Bergese, and Sarah Patterson in her film debut. The screenplay by Angela Carter and Jordan was a ...

'' (1990) an album by the American rock band of the same name * "Night of the Cadillacs" on the ''Cuts'' EP (1992) by the American hard-rock band

L.A. Guns L.A. Guns are an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, formed in 1983. The lineup currently consists of Tracii Guns (lead guitar), Phil Lewis (musician), Phil Lewis (lead vocals), Ace Von Johnson (rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Johnny Mar ...

* ''Rock & A Hard Place'' (2007) an album by the English heavy-metal band

the Handsome Beasts The Handsome Beasts are an English heavy metal band who surfaced during the new wave of British heavy metal. Currently enjoying a resurgence in popularity, their album ''Beastiality'' is infamous for being featured on several "Worst album cov ...

* "Good Times" on the ''Cookin EP (2009) and "On the Sunny Side Again" on the ''Set Fire to It All'' album (2012) by the Swedish rock band

Diamond Dogs ''Diamond Dogs'' is the eighth studio album by the English musician David Bowie, released on 24 May 1974 through RCA Records. Bowie produced the album and recorded it in early 1974 in London and the Netherlands, following the disbanding o ...

Discography

This discography documents the studio albums Spike has been a part of in various projects, throughout his musical career.

The Quireboys

* 1990 ''

'' UK No. 2 * 1993 '' Bitter Sweet & Twisted'' UK No. 31 * 2001 '' This Is Rock'n'Roll'' * 2004 '' Well Oiled'' * 2008 ''Homewreckers & Heartbreakers'' * 2009 ''Halfpenny Dancer'' * 2010 ''Halfpenny Dancer Live'' * 2011 ''Live in Glasgow'' * 2013 ''Beautiful Curse'' * 2014 ''Black Eyed Sons'' * 2015 '' St. Cecilia and the Gypsy Soul'' * 2016 "Twisted Love" * 2017 "White Trash Blues" * 2019 "Amazing Disgrace" * 2020 "Live & Alive 35" * 2021 ''A Bit of What You Fancy'' (remixed) * 2024 "

Wardour Street Wardour Street () is a street in Soho, City of Westminster, London. It is a one-way street that runs north from Leicester Square, through Chinatown, London, Chinatown, across Shaftesbury Avenue to Oxford Street. Throughout the 20th century th ...

God's Hotel

* 1997 ''God's Hotel''

Spike an' Darrell

* 1995 ''Take Out Some Insurance''

Spike and Tyla's Hot Knives

* 1996 ''Flagrantly Yours'' * 2005 ''Flagrantly Electrically Acoustically Yours'' * 2016 ''The Sinister Indecisions of Frankie Gray and Jimmy Pallas''

Damage Control

* 2007 ''Damage Control''

Solo

* 1998 ''Blue Eyed Soul'' * 1998 ''Live in London'' * 2005 ''It's a Treat to Be Alive'' * 2008 ''So-Called Friends'' * 2014 '' 100% Pure Frankie Miller''

References

External links

* * *Official website
Quireboys singer Spike - official site, news, tour dates & more. Welcome to the official site of Spike - founder of the Quireboys, solo artist, songwriter and storyteller. Explore this site for latest news on his solo acoustic dates and forthcoming news on his band The Quireboys.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spike (musician) 1968 births 20th-century English singers 21st-century English singers English expatriate musicians in the United States English male singer-songwriters English blues rock musicians Glam metal musicians Living people Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Musicians from Northumberland People from Haltwhistle Singers from London 20th-century English musicians 21st-century English musicians The Quireboys members 20th-century British male singers 21st-century English male singers British hard rock musicians