大象传媒

The unique talent of Leo Sayer is synonymous with the 1970s but his richly deserved success didn鈥檛 come easy to the former school choirboy.

Born in Shoreham-By Sea in Sussex, he had a short career in graphic design, before teaming up with musician David Courtney and 60鈥檚 pop star Adam Faith. Leo began co-writing with Courtney and his first song-writing success came with Roger Daltrey鈥檚 solo album, 鈥楪iving It All Away鈥�. When young Leo finally launched his own singing career in 1973, he wasn鈥檛 an overnight success. In fact, his debut single 鈥溾�橶hy Is Everybody Going Home鈥�, failed to make a hit. It was his second single, 鈥楾he Show Must Go On鈥� which helped Leo achieve popularity. The single peaked at number two and by the end of 1973, both the Melody Maker and The Sun newspaper predicted Leo as 鈥淭he Star Of 鈥�74鈥�.

By 1977, Leo was on a roll and he became a staple artist of the decade. He achieved two consecutive number one hits in the United States, first with 鈥榊ou Make Me Feel Like Dancing鈥�, which won a Grammy Award and the romantic ballad, 鈥榃hen I Need You鈥�, which also made it to number one in the UK. He rounded off the decade with another hit, 鈥楾he Very Best of Leo Sayer鈥�, which became his first number one album in the UK.

Leo had varying degrees of success during the 1980s and 90s, before he made it to number one in the UK again in 2006, this time with the single, 鈥楾hunder In My Heart (Again)鈥�.

This year, Leo has released a brand new album, 鈥楽elfie鈥� and he is currently on a UK tour.