- Album list
- Singer Intro
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970, by songwriters/multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements, and futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's leader, arranging and producing every album while writing virtually all of their original material. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including two LPs that reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986, Lynne lost interest in the band and ceased its operation. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. With the exception of a short-lived reunion in 2000–01, ELO remained largely inactive for the next three decades. In 2014, Lynne re-formed the band again with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO, where he resumed concert touring and new recordings under the moniker.
During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, collecting 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. For a period in the mid 1970s, the band saw more success in the United States, where they were billed as 'the English guys with the big fiddles'. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated twenty Top 20 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen Top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history.[nb 1] In 2017, the ELO line-up of Wood, Lynne, Bevan, and Tandy were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Members
Current members
Jeff Lynne – lead and backing vocals, guitars, bass, cello, keyboards, drums, percussion, producer, songwriter, composer, arranger (1970–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Richard Tandy – keyboards, synthesisers, bass, guitar, backing vocals, producer, arranger (1971–1986, 2000–2001, 2014–present)
Current live members (Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Milton McDonald – lead guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Mike Stevens – guitar, backing vocals (2014–present)
Iain Hornal – backing vocals, guitar (2014–present)
Lee Pomeroy – bass guitar (2014–present)
Marcus Byrne – keyboards (2014–present)
Bernie Smith – keyboards (2014–present)
Donavan Hepburn – drums (2014–present)
Melanie Lewis-McDonald – backing vocals (2014–present)
Rosie Langley – violin (2016–present)
Amy Langley – cello (2016–present)
Jess Cox – cello (2016–present)
Jo Webb – keyboards (2017–present)
Former members
Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, vocals (1970–1986)
Roy Wood – lead and backing vocals, guitar, bass guitar, cello, keyboards, drums, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, recorder, producer, songwriter, composer, arranger (1970–1972)
Bill Hunt – keyboards, French horn, hunting horn (1971–1972)
Steve Woolam – violin (1971; died 1971)
Andy Craig – cello (1971–1972)
Hugh McDowell – cello (1972, 1973–1979)
Mike Edwards – cello (1972–1975; died 2010)
Wilfred Gibson – violin (1972–1973; died 2014)
Mike de Albuquerque – bass guitar, backing vocals (1972–1974)
Colin Walker – cello (1972–1973)
Mik Kaminski – violin (1973–1979)
Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing and lead vocals (1974–1983; died 2009)
Melvyn Gale – cello (1975–1979)
Former live members
Mik Kaminski – violin (1981–1982, 1986) (also appeared in music videos during this period)
Louis Clark – synthesisers, keyboards (1981–1982, 1986)
Dave Morgan – synthesisers, acoustic guitar, backing vocals (1981–1982, 1986)
Martin Smith – bass (1986)
Peggy Baldwin – cello (2000–2001)
Gregg Bissonette – drums, backing vocals (2000–2001)
Matt Bissonette – bass guitar, backing vocals (2000–2001)
Marc Mann – guitars, keyboards, backing vocals (2000–2001, 2014)
Sarah O'Brien – cello (2000–2001)
Rosie Vela – backing vocals (2000–2001)
Mick Wilson – percussion, backing vocals (2014)
Chereene Allen – violin (2014)
Associated
Rick Price – bass guitar (1970) (recorded the original bass lines for the first album, however they were deleted)
Rick Payne – cello (1971) (intended to be a live cellist but never played live with E.L.O.)
Mike Atkins – cello (1971) (intended to be a live cellist but never played live with E.L.O.)
Trevor Smith – cello (1971–1972) (intended to be a live cellist but never played live with E.L.O.)
Rick Pannell - cello, sound engineer (1972–1974) (pretended to play cello during TV appearances)
Louis Clark – conductor, arranger (1974–1979, 1983)[nb 2]
Rainer Pietsch – conductor, arranger (1981)
Discography
Main articles: Electric Light Orchestra discography and recorded songs
Studio albums
The Electric Light Orchestra (1971) (as the Electric Light Orchestra)
ELO 2 (1973) (as the Electric Light Orchestra)
On the Third Day (1973)
Eldorado (1974)
Face the Music (1975)
A New World Record (1976)
Out of the Blue (1977)
Discovery (1979)
Time (1981) (as ELO)
Secret Messages (1983)
Balance of Power (1986)
Zoom (2001)
Alone in the Universe (2015) (as Jeff Lynne's ELO)
Soundtrack album
Xanadu (1980)
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