Robert Palmer (singer)

Robert Allen Palmer was an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He was known for combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues. Palmer found success both in his solo career and with the Power Station. He died aged 54, following a heart attack on 26 September 2003.

About Robert Palmer (singer) in brief

Summary Robert Palmer (singer)Robert Allen Palmer was an English singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He was known for his powerful, distinctive, gritty and soulful voice, sartorial elegance and for combining soul, jazz, rock, pop, reggae and blues. Palmer found success both in his solo career and with the Power Station, and had Top 10 songs in both the United Kingdom and the United States in the 1980s. Palmer received a number of awards throughout his career, including two Grammy Awards for Best Male Rock Vocal Performance, an MTV Video Music Award and two Brit Award nominations for Best British Male Solo Artist. He died aged 54, following a heart attack on 26 September 2003. Palmer’s father was a British naval intelligence officer stationed in Malta. In 1949, Palmer moved with his family from Batley, where he was born, to Scarborough. Palmer joined his first band, The Mandrakes, at the age of 15 whilst still at Scarborough High School for Boys. In 1970 Palmer joined the 12-piece jazz-rock fusion band Dada, which featured singer Elkie Brooks and her husband Pete Gage. After a year, Palmer, Brooks and Gage formed soulrock band Vinegar Joe.

His first solo album Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley recorded in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1974, was heavily influenced by the music of Little Feat and the funk fusion of the Meters who acted as backing band. In 1978, he released Double Fun, a collection of Caribbean-influenced rock, including a cover of \”You Really Got Me\”. The album reached the Top 50 on the US Billboard chart and scored a Top 20 single with the Andy Fraser-penned \”Every Kinda People\”. The song has been covered by other artists including Chaka Demusiers, Randy Crawford, The Mint Juleps and Amy Grant. It was Palmer’s next departure, concentrating on rock, producing his second single with his second album Clues. The album produced by Chris Frantz and Gary Numan, generated hits on both sides of the Atlantic, including the radio-friendly single “Johnny Mary” and the synth-pop single “Catchy Mary” The album Catchy Mary also gave him a younger audience to exposure to a new wave of new music. Palmer was married to his long-term girlfriend, the British singer/songwriter/producer/actress Toni Garrn.