Steve Harley, a British rock star of the Nineteen Seventies who topped the British charts with the one “Make Me Smile”, died on Sunday. He was 73 years old.
He died in his home, – his family announced on Facebook. No reason was given, but Mr. Harley announced last month that he could be leaving the stage to undergo treatment for cancer and had previously canceled several scheduled concert events this yr.
Mr Harley was the frontman of the band Cockney Rebel, which he formed within the early Nineteen Seventies.
His biggest hit was the 1975 single “Make Me Smile,” wherein Mr. Harley’s regular vocals and melancholic lyrics flow over the instruments, carrying the upbeat sound typical of bands of that era. The song topped the British charts February of that yr.
Other songs achieved success outside the UK.
“Sebastian” – a single from the band’s 1973 debut album “The Human Menagerie” – became a No. 1 hit in Belgium and the Netherlands, based on Mr. Harley website.
In 1986, Mr. Harley and singer Sarah Brightman recorded the unique song “The Phantom of the Opera” for the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical of the identical name.
Steve Harley was born on February 27, 1951 in London and, based on his online biography, was the second of 5 children. His mother, who sang jazz and swing within the Forties, gave Mr. Harley certainly one of his first introductions to music.
“She sang in the house when we were kids,” he said 2022 interview for Tim Quinn’s YouTube channel, comparing his mother’s voice to that of British singer (*73*) Shelton.
When he was a baby, his mother sang to Buddy Holly and other Fifties pop singers who were on the radio, he said in an interview.
A full list of survivors was not immediately available.
Illness and surgeries meant Mr. Harley was out and in of hospital incessantly as a baby. At the age of 12, while recovering from surgery, Harley became fascinated with the works of DH Lawrence, Ernest Hemingway and other authors, and, based on his online biography, he developed a taste for the music of Bob Dylan.
According to his website, these artists made young Mr. Harley realize that his life would likely be “taken up with words and music.”
He did indeed develop into preoccupied with words within the late Sixties and early Nineteen Seventies as he pursued a profession in journalism, working for several newspapers within the UK
Around the identical time, his life as a singer began in London nightclubs, where he performed at no cost and met his eventual bandmates Cockney Rebel, with whom he signed his first record take care of the band in 1972.
A prolific artist, Mr. Harley continued to sing until the ultimate years of his life. He entered the stage only in 2023.
