Jeff Wayne

The son of actor, singer and theatre producer Jerry Wayne, Jeff Wayne (New York, July 1st, 1943) was raised largely in America, though spent part of his formative years in the UK after his father won the role of Sky Masterson in the original West End musical, Guys and Dolls. Back in the US he moved to California where he trained as a journalist and played in several local bands, following his passion for music. In 1966 his father produced a musical adaptation of Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities, not-so imaginatively calling it Two Cities. Wayne Junior composed the score and his career in music began. Over the next few years he composed and produced music for adverts, TV and films, becoming somewhat prolific, before teaming up with David Essex to produce his Grammy Award-nominated album, Rock On. Soon after, he began work on what was to become his magnum opus - the musical adaptation of H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds. It was an immediate international success and garnered much critical acclaim; its mix of hard rock and classical music combined with literature featured Richard Burton, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott, Julie Covington and unsurprisingly, David Essex. Wayne went on to compose the score for 1992 film Spartacus but his work since has been less high profile - though he continues to compose and produce from his base in the UK. Originally released in 1978, The War of the Worlds double album spawned two remix expansions, The War of the Worlds: ULLAdubULLA in 2000 and The War of the Worlds: ULLAdubULLA II in 2006. In 2012, a new version titled The War of the Worlds - The New Generation featured actor Liam Neeson and musicians Alex Clare and Ricky Wilson.