Todd Sharpville (born 9 April 1970 as The Hon. Roland Augusto Jestyn Estanislao Philipps) is an English musician and the younger son of the 3rd Viscount St Davids. A British musician, singer-songwriter and lead guitarist, mainly in the

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 ...

field, it has been asserted that he is "the world's first blue-blooded bluesman", as a titled member of a British aristocratic family. In 2010, the Conservative Party asked him to stand for election as a

prospective parliamentary candidate In British politics, a prospective parliamentary candidate (PPC) is a candidate selected by political parties to contest under individual Westminster constituencies in advance of a general election. The term originally came into use because of ...

, but he declined the offer.

Family

The younger son of Colwyn Jestyn John Philipps, 3rd Viscount Saint Davids and Augusta Victoria Correa Larrain Ugarte, he and his brother, Rhodri Colwyn Philipps, the 4th Viscount Saint Davids, were raised in the Roman Catholic faith of their mother, and attended Downside and Worth schools, respectively. Sharpville has two daughters.

Career

Sharpville first came to public prominence with his 1994 debut blues album release, ''Touch of Your Love'' (Red Lightnin'). The album achieved critical acclaim, winning "Best Album" in 1994 in the British Blues Connection awards (Britain's equivalent to the W.C. Handy Awards). At this time, Sharpville was putting together European backing bands for visiting American blues artists (such as

Hubert Sumlin Hubert Charles Sumlin (November 16, 1931 – December 4, 2011) was a Chicago blues guitarist and singer, best known for his "wrenched, shattering bursts of notes, sudden cliff-hanger silences and daring rhythmic suspensions" as a member of Howl ...

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

Chuck Berry Charles Edward Anderson Berry (October 18, 1926 – March 18, 2017) was an American singer, guitarist and songwriter who pioneered rock and roll. Nicknamed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Rock and Roll", he refined and de ...

and Byther Smith). He won the British Blues Connection "Best UK Guitarist" award in 1995 (beating fellow nominees

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...

and

Gary Moore Robert William Gary Moore (4 April 19526 February 2011) was a Northern Irish musician. Over the course of his career, he played in various groups and performed a range of music including blues, blues rock, hard rock, Heavy metal music, heavy ...

according to the April 1995 edition of British Blues Connection's ''Blueprint'' magazine) and became a mainstay on the European blues circuit as a solo artist. His second blues album, ''The Meaning of Life'' was released in 2001 on Cathouse Records and featured guests

Leo Sayer Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948) is an English-Australian singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He has been an Australian citizen and resident since 2009. Sayer launched his career in the United Kingd ...

, Eugene "Hideaway" Bridges,

Snowy White Terence Charles "Snowy" White (born 3 March 1948) is an English guitarist, known for having played with Thin Lizzy (permanent member from 1980 to 1982) and with Pink Floyd (as a backing guitarist from 1977 to 1980), and later for Roger Waters' ...

, Paul Lamb, Keith Dunn, and ex-

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guitarist

Mick Taylor Michael Kevin Taylor (born 17 January 1949) is an English guitarist, best known as a former member of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, John Mayall's Bluesbreakers (1967–1969) and the Rolling Stones (1969–1974). As a member of the Stones, h ...

. In support of this release, Sayer toured extensively, as part of the Todd Sharpville Band. Taylor appeared as a special guest at a limited number of European dates. Sharpville can also be found on more than 35

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s, and at least five

Dana Gillespie Richenda Antoinette de Winterstein Gillespie (born 30 March 1949), known professionally as Dana Gillespie, is an English actress, singer and songwriter. Originally performing and recording in her teens, over the years Gillespie has been involved ...

releases. He participated in

Mick Ronson Michael Ronson (26 May 1946 – 29 April 1993) was an English musician, songwriter, arranger, and producer. He achieved critical and commercial success working with David Bowie as the guitarist of the Spiders from Mars. He was a session musici ...

's Memorial Concert (Citadel Records – recorded at the

Hammersmith Apollo The Hammersmith Apollo, currently called the Eventim Apollo for sponsorship reasons, and formerly and still commonly known as the Hammersmith Odeon, is a live entertainment performance venue, originally built as a cinema called the Gaumont Pa ...

in 1994), in

Albert Hammond Albert Louis Hammond Order of the British Empire, OBE (born 18 May 1944) is a Gibraltarians, Gibraltarian singer, songwriter and record producer. A prolific songwriter, he also collaborated with other songwriters such as Mike Hazlewood, John B ...

's 2006 release ''Revolution of the Heart'' (Sharpville was Hammond's guitarist and musical director) and in Leo Sayer's ''Voice in My Head'' (2005). Live performances include appearances with

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

Van Morrison Sir George Ivan "Van" Morrison (born 31 August 1945) is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician whose recording career started in the 1960s. Morrison's albums have performed well in the UK and Ireland, with more than 40 reaching the UK ...

, Peter Green,

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Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

Albert Collins Albert Gene Collins (October 1, 1932 – November 24, 1993)Skeely, Richard. "Albert Collins: Biography" Allmusic.com. was an American electric blues guitarist and singer with a distinctive guitar style. He was noted for his powerful playing ...

Georgie Fame Georgie Fame (born Clive Powell; 26 June 1943) is an English R&B and jazz musician. Fame, who had a string of 1960s hits, is still performing, often working with contemporaries such as Alan Price, Van Morrison and Bill Wyman. Fame is the only B ...

Kim Wilson Kim Wilson (born January 6, 1951) is an American blues singer and harmonica player. He is best known as the lead vocalist and frontman for The Fabulous Thunderbirds on two hit songs of the 1980s, " Tuff Enuff" (which was the group's only Top ...

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Tommy Castro Tommy Castro (born April 15, 1955) is an American blues, R&B, and rock guitarist and singer. He has been recording since the mid-1990s. His music has taken him from local stages to national and international touring. His popularity was marked ...

Brian May Sir Brian Harold May (born 19 July 1947) is an English musician, songwriter, record producer, animal welfare activist and astrophysics, astrophysicist. He achieved global fame as the lead guitarist and backing vocalist of the rock band Queen ...

, and the reformed version of

The Yardbirds The Yardbirds are an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1963. The band started the careers of three of rock's most famous guitarists: Eric Clapton (1963–1965), Jeff Beck (1965–1966) and Jimmy Page (1966–1968), all of whom ...

. Between 2005 and 2007, Sharpville was the European opening act for

Pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, p ...

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, and

B.B. King Riley B. King (September 16, 1925 – May 14, 2015), known professionally as B.B. King, was an American blues guitarist, singer, songwriter, and record producer. He introduced a sophisticated style of soloing based on fluid string bending, sh ...

. His blues double album, ''Porchlight'', was released on 29 October 2010 by the MiG Music record label. This was produced in Rhode Island by

Duke Robillard Michael John "Duke" Robillard (born October 4, 1948) is an American guitarist and singer. He founded the band Roomful of Blues and was a member of the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Although Robillard is known as a rock and blues guitarist, he also play ...

and featured contributions by Robillard, Joe Louis Walker and Kim Wilson of

the Fabulous Thunderbirds The Fabulous Thunderbirds is an American blues rock band formed in 1974. Singer Kim Wilson is the only constant member through the band's entire history. Their 1986 album ''Tuff Enuff'' sold over a million copies, and spawned two minor hit singl ...

. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Sharpville assembled the world's first professional lockdown backing band which included well known session musicians, living together under one roof in a rented Norfolk mansion. They performed online streaming shows each week, and remotely recorded with a variety of artists. The

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 ...

film composer

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 ...

worked with Sharpville on material forming part of a public awareness campaign, designed to promote unity amongst the general public. He was chosen as the opening act for

in May 2022, and performed at Clapton’s

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 ...

concerts in London on 7 May 2022 to help promote Sharpville's album, ''Medication Time''.

Discography

Albums

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharpville, Todd 1970 births Living people English rock guitarists English male guitarists English blues guitarists English male singer-songwriters Singers from London People educated at Downside School Younger sons of viscounts 21st-century English singers 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers