Biography

As the frontman for the epic British drone-pop band The Verve, Richard Ashcroft proved himself the spiritual descendant of rock & roll icons like Mick Jagger and Jim Morrison -- rivetingly charismatic, menacingly serpentine, and possessed of an almost shamanic intensity, he embraced and articulated the anthemic fervour of rock music with a power and eloquence unparalleled by any of his contemporaries.

Richard Ashcroft was born on September 11, 1971 in the Wigan suburb of Billinge, attending Upholland Comprehensive School alongside future Verve mates Simon Jones, Simon Tong, and Peter Salisbury; after losing his father at age 11, he fell under the influence of his stepfather, a member of the ancient secular order of the Rosicrucians, who regularly performed experiments in mind expansion and the healing arts.

While a student at Winstanley College in 1989, Richard Ashcroft co-founded Verve with bassist Simon Jones, drummer Pete Salisbury, and guitarist Nick McCabe; signing to Virgin's Hut imprint to issue their 1992 debut single, "All in the Mind", the group earned widespread praise for its majestic, oceanic guitar-pop, with the eminently-quotable Richard Ashcroft earning the dismissive nickname "Mad Richard" from the UK press.

Despite their critical acclaim, Verve often seemed at the mercy of forces outside their control -- while touring with the Lollapalooza festival in support of their 1993 debut LP, A Storm in Heaven, Richard Ashcroft was hospitalized after suffering from severe dehydration, and within months the band also entered into a protracted legal battle with the American jazz label Verve, which resulted in an official name change to "The" Verve. Recorded under the influence of a massive intake of ecstasy, 1995's brilliant A Northern Soul effectively split the band apart, although Richard Ashcroft reformed the line-up a few weeks later.

The reformed The Verve achieved international success with 1997's celebrated Urban Hymns, scoring a series of hits with "Bitter Sweet Symphony", "The Drugs Don't Work", "Lucky Man", and "Sonnet"; however, legal hassles awarded 100 percent of "Bitter Sweet Symphony's" publishing rights to ABKCO Music -- the song was built on a sample taken from an instrumental version of The Rolling Stones "The Last Time", (which, incidentally, The Stones had taken from a Staple Singers song!) -- and as friction between Richard Ashcroft and Nick McCabe resurfaced, the guitarist quit the group, and following a final tour without McCabe, The Verve again disbanded, this time for good.

Richard Ashcroft's solo debut, Alone with Everybody, followed in mid-2000. Later that fall, Richard Ashcroft celebrated his solo success with a 10-date sold out American tour. Two days prior to kick off in Chicago, the entire tour was postponed due to Richard Ashcroft's illness, and speculations were quickly linked to his previous drug using behavior with The Verve. Those rumours were also wiped out fast, and the US dates were rescheduled for January 2001. The following year, in 2002, Richard Ashcroft returned with the soul-searching, spiritual second album Human Conditions.

Richard Ashcroft then had time out to spend with his family until, apart from a couple of appearances in 2003, he supported Coldplay on their international tour in 2005. A key moment for Richard in 2005 was on July 2nd when he joined Coldplay on the Live8 stage to perform Bitter Sweet Symphony. Chris Martin introduced Richard Ashcroft as "the best singer in the world ... singing the best song ever written".

2006 was a very busy year for Richard Ashcroft, with his 3rd solo album, Keys To The World, released in January. This was supported by extensive headlining tours throughout 2006, and numerous TV and radio appearances. The hightlight of the year for Richard Ashcroft must have been his homecoming gig at Old Trafford on 17 June, where he performed to over 26,000 people, and was supported by Simple Kid, Akala, The Feeling and Razorlight. Richard Ashcroft also performed at The Isle Of Wight Festival and T In The Park. Another highlight must have been when he took part (albeit briefly) in The Legends football match against Germany in June (football being one of Richard's passions).

On 26 June 2007 it was announced that Richard had joined forces once again with The Verve band members, Nick McCabe, Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury to work on a new album and a 6 date tour planned for the autumn.