Paul Carrack sang for the bands Ace, Squeeze, and Mike & the Mechanics and has also released several albums as a solo artist. He is a singer and a keyboardist.

 

Born on April 22, 1951 in Yorkshire, Sheffield, England, Carrack performed in local bands before finding success in the early 1970’s with the band Ace. Ace had a hit with the single “How Long,” which reached the top 20 in the UK and peaked at #3 in the US. Subsequent singles, however, were not as popular, and Ace broke up in 1977.

 

Carrack contributed to albums by Frankie Miller and Roxy Music before releasing his first solo album, Nightbird, in 1980. Soon after, he joined the band Squeeze as a keyboardist and played on their album East Side Story.The album charted in both the UK and the US and had a US top 50 single in the song “Tempted,” which Carrack sang. Carrack’s time with Squeeze was short, however; he left the band in late 1981.

 

Carrack’s next solo album was 1982’s critically acclaimed Suburban Voodoo, whose single “I Need You” was a US top 40 hit. Meanwhile, he played on albums by artists such as Nick Lowe, The Smiths, The Pretenders, and John Hiatt.

 

In 1985, Carrack joined Genesis bassist/guitarist Mike Rutherford as a vocalist in his side band Mike & the Mechanics. The band’s self-titled debut was a hit, as was its 1988 follow-up, The Living Years. Carrack sang on the latter’s title track, which reached #1 in the US.

 

In between these two Mike & the Mechanics albums, Carrack released his third solo effort, One Good Reason. It had a top 10 single in “Don’t Shed a Tear” and proved to be his most popular solo album.

 

His 1989 solo album Groove Approved yielded the hit single “Battlefield.” He recorded 1991’s Word of Mouth with Mike & the Mechanics before re-joining Squeeze for their album Some Fantastic Place, which achieved some success in the UK.

 

He recorded another album with Mike & the Mechanics, 1995’s Beggar on a Beach of Gold, and continued to contribute to albums by artists such as Elton John, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, and Simply Red.

 

He also released several solo albums, including 1996’s Blue Views, 1997’s Beautiful World, 2000’s Satisfy My Soul, 2001’s Groovin’ and 2002’s Still Groovin’. As a tribute to his influences, the two Groovin’ albums contained covers of soulful pop songs from the 1960’s and 1970’s, such as Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Van Morrison’s “Crazy Love.” Along with Satisfy My Soul and his most recent album, 2003’s It Ain’t Over, the Groovin’ albums were released on Carrack’s own record label and recorded at his home studio.

 

After the death of Paul Young, Mike & the Mechanics released an experimental album called Rewired as Mike & the Mechanics and Paul Carrack.