Richard Thompson

Much loved and enduringly consistent, singer and guitarist Richard Thompson – born in Notting Hill, London, England on April 3, 1949 - is a performer who has maintained high standards of acclaim and influence across five decades, with songs covered by a wide variety of artists including Elvis Costello, Christy Moore, The Blind Boys of Alabama, The Corrs, and Bellowhead. The son of a Scottish detective who played guitar in his spare time, Richard Thompson formed his first band at school, Emil & The Detectives, with classmate Hugh Cornwell (later of The Stranglers). A prodigiously talented electric guitarist, he was performing with Fairport Convention by the time he was 18, playing a key role in their genesis as British folk rock pioneers, notably on the classic album Liege & Lief. His desire to concentrate on his own songs led to his departure from the band, releasing his debut solo album Henry the Human Fly before forming a productive partnership with his wife Linda Thompson. They scored a minor hit with the upbeat “I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight” (also a chart record for Julie Covington) but switched styles into a deeper kind of music as a result of his interest in Sufi culture in 1981, prior to the release of Shoot Out the Lights, his split with Linda, and a tension-filled tour in America to promote it. Richard Thompson then launched his solo career in earnest, sometimes playing with a full rock band and at other times playing solo acoustic, while cementing his reputation as a classic songwriter with material like “Beeswing,” “The Great Valerio,” “Walking on a Wire,” “Down Where the Drunkards Roll,” “1952 Vincent Black Lightning,” and “From Galway to Graceland.” In 2011, he was awarded an OBE and an honorary doctorate from the University of Aberdeen. In 2014, he joined his ex-wife Linda, son Teddy, his daughter and son-in-law Kami and James Walbourne and their son Zak in a collaborative album titled Family. He teamed up with his ex-wife once more on a track from her fourth solo album, Won't Be Long Now, titled “Love's for Babies and Fools.” His 16th solo offering, Still (2015), rose to number 10 on the UK Albums chart. He followed that album up with Acoustic Classics II (2017), Acoustic Rarities (2017) and 13 Rivers (2018). After the release of four live albums – Across a Crowded Room: Live at Barrymore’s 1985 (2019), Live at Rock City, Nottingham, November ’86 (2020), Live from London (2021), and Live from Honolulu 2006 (2022) – Richard Thompson returned with the critically acclaimed studio album Ship to Shore (2024), which reached number 46 on the UK Albums chart.