Chris Thompson (II)
Chris Thompson (born Christopher Hamlet Thompson, 9 March 1948) is best known as being the vocalist from Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Although born in the UK, Thompson spent his early life in Hamilton, and attended Hamilton Boys High School. While at school he formed his first band, the Paragons. In Hamilton he was also in a band called Dynasty (who appeared on the C'Mon show with Peter Sinclair), and finally Mandrake, before returning to the UK in 1973.
On his return to the UK, Thompson played in Manfred Mann's Earth Band. Most notably, he was the vocalist on their biggest selling single, Blinded by the Light, a cover of a Bruce Springsteen song. He is also notable for featuring in 1978s Jeff Wayne Musical version of The War of the Worlds, where he sang the lyrics for the song "Thunder Child". The album on which it appears is ranked the 39th best-selling album of all time in the UK. In 1979 he formed the Los Angeles band Night, which had two hits including "If You Remember Me", the theme song for the 1979 Franco Zeffirelli film The Champ. After the band broke up in 1982 he rejoined Manfred Mann's Earth Band. In 1981, Thompson released his debut album, Out Of The Night. This was followed by five more solo studio albums, and a number of other releases.
Other notable achievements include the recording of the 1990 single "This Is The Moment", which was the official theme song for the 1990 Commonwealth Games in Auckland, and he was a co-author of the song 'You're the Voice' by John Farnham, which reached #1 in the charts in Australia, Sweden and Germany. He has appeared on recordings by Elton John, The Doobie Brothers, Starship, Gary Moore, Mike Oldfield and Alan Parsons.
Releases
- Out Of The Night album (1981)
- Radio Voices album (1983)
- High Cost Of Living album (1986)
- Beat Of Love album (1989)
- Backtrack 1980-1994 album (1999)
- Won't Lie Down album (2001)
- Rediscovery album (2004)
- Timeline album (2005)
- One Hot Night in the Cold (Live at the Private Music Club) album (2006) - as Chris Thompson and Band
- Wont Lie Down album (2008)
- Toys and Dishes album (2014)
- Jukebox - The Ultimate Collection 1975-2015 album (2015)
- How Can Heaven Love Me single by Sarah Brightman (feat. Chris Thompson) (1995)
External Links
Chris Thompson should not be confused with the other Hamilton singer songwriter, also called Chris Thompson.
