Nik Kershaw

A 1980s heartthrob who scored a string of Top 10 hits, Nik Kershaw crafted some of the era's catchiest pop anthems before going on to write and produce for other artists in the 1990s and beyond. Raised in Ipswich, Kershaw started out playing Deep Purple songs in his first group Half Pint Hogg before playing guitar with the short-lived jazz funk act Fusion. His big breakthrough came when he signed with MCA Records and released second single Wouldn't It Be Good, which shot to Number 4 in the UK charts and paved the way for debut album Human Racing (1984) to make the top five and reach platinum status. I Won't Let The Sun Go Down On Me became his biggest hit and signature tune, while Wide Boy, Don Quixote and The Riddle made him a huge star across Europe and led to him performing at Live Aid in front of 200,000 people at Wembley Stadium. He penned Chesney Hawkes's huge Number 1 hit I Am The One And Only in 1991 and went on to write with Imogen Heap, Elton John, Ronan Keating and Bonnie Tyler, but still works as a solo artist and released his eighth studio album No Frills in 2010.