Christopher Algernon Thompson is a British singer, guitarist, and composer born March 9, 1948 in Ashford, Kent, United Kingdom. Thompson began his music career in school folk bands before moving to New Zealand, where Thompson performed with local groups including the Paragons and Hillberry Walker. Thompson joined Manfred Mann’s Earth Band in 1975, providing lead vocals for the single “Blinded by the Light”, which reached Number 1 in the United States in 1977 and number 6 in the United Kingdom. Thompson recorded several albums with the group, including The Roaring Silence (1976), Watch (1978), Angel Station (1979), Chance (1980), Somewhere in Afrika (1982), Criminal Tango (1986), Soft Vengeance (1996), and Mann Alive (1998). Thompson co-wrote the hit single “You're the Voice” for John Farnham in 1986. Thompson achieved a top 10 single in Germany with “The Challenge (Face It)” in 1989, sang on Mike Oldfield’s album Earth Moving (1989), and recorded the duet “How Can Heaven Love Me” with Sarah Brightman on her album Fly (1995). Thompson announced retirement from live performance in 2020, performed a final concert in 2022, and released the live album The Final Round - Live in 2023.
