Robert Hart (musician)

Robert Hart (born 1 November 1958, Bournemouth, Hampshire - now Dorset) is a British rock vocalist and songwriter. He is currently the lead singer of Manfred Mann's Earth Band and the band Diesel. He has performed as a solo artist, and with The Distance and also with former Whitesnake members in the band called Company of Snakes and with Bad Company. He also fronted The Jones Gang, a rock group formed by Hart, Rick Wills and Kenney Jones. He now performs as a solo artist as well as touring with his own band XBad Company, with Dave "Bucket" Colwell and Garry "Harry" James (ex-members of Bad Company). He was the first English writer to be signed to Disney owned Hollywood Records. He has also written several Number 1 hits, and written a number of songs for film soundtracks, whilst being signed to Roy Orbison's Still Working Music, Disney's Hollywood Records, and Island Records.

This article is about the British songwriter. For other people, see Robert Hart (disambiguation).

Robert Hart
Robert Hart (2016)
Background information
Born (1958-11-01) 1 November 1958
Bournemouth, Hampshire, England
GenresHard rock, blues rock, funk
Occupation(s)Singer, musician, songwriter
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1980s–present
LabelsIsland, Atlantic, Hollywood
Associated actsDistance, Bad Company, Company of Snakes, The Jones Gang, Manfred Mann's Earth Band

Career

Chris Blackwell signed Hart to his Island Records label in the 1980s and teamed him with Bernard Edwards. The two men produced collaborated on several projects, including the soundtrack for the Whoopi Goldberg film, The Burglar. The Distance was commercially successful in Japan. After leaving the band Hart moved to Atlantic Records as a solo artist, with Stewart Levine producing his first album, Cries and Whispers.

He then became the first English artist to be signed by Disney-owned Hollywood Records, and worked with Russ Ballard on Hart's self-titled album, Robert Hart, which charted in more than 18 countries.

While touring following the release of the album in 1992, Hart was approached by Mick Ralphs of Bad Company and asked whether he would be interested in fronting the band. For the next seven years Hart toured with them. He also co-wrote two of the band's albums, Company of Strangers and Stories Told & Untold, three live albums. Over the years Hart has also been involved in projects with Andy Taylor of Duran Duran, Peter Maffay, members of Chic and Go West. His association with Kenney Jones came via Boz Burrell, who played with Hart in Bad Company.

Bad Company

During 1992, Hart was approached by Mick Ralphs and Simon Kirke and asked if he would like to join them as the third lead vocalist for Bad Company, following Paul Rodgers and Brian Howe. Hart performed with Bad Company, including in the USA and Canada. In July 1994 a contract was drawn up by Alliance Artists and Legend Management and signed by the then Bad Company line up, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke, Hart, Dave Colwell and Rick Wills, giving Hart the right to perform, write and record songs and albums and receive royalty payments as a full Bad Company member. In 1995 a self-produced Bad Company album was released, Company of Strangers, with Hart, who bore a vocal similarity to Paul Rodgers. It contained five tracks self-penned or co-written by Hart and Ralphs. The band made a promotional tour of the USA with Bon Jovi. Griffin Music of America also re-issued Take This! on compact disc. In 1996 another Bad Co album, Stories Told & Untold featured Hart. Stories Told & Untold, contained seven new compositions and seven acoustic versions including 'Can't Get Enough' and 'Ready For Love'. Hart was also lead vocalist on three live albums between 1994 and 2001.[1] In March he will be on tour in Germany with “Rock meets classic“ featuring Alice Cooper.

The Jones Gang

After Bad Company, Hart became the frontman with the Jones Gang. Hart formed the trio with Kenney Jones in 2001. Hart wrote a charity song titled "It's All About The Children" for which Hart and Jones and other artists played on the record. They included: Paul Young, Gary Granger, Ronnie Wood, and Rick Wills. The band recorded an album titled Any Day Now which Hart co-wrote all of the tracks and sole wrote most of the tracks. The album was released in the U.S on 9 August 2005. The debut single "Angel" written by Hart, and Russ Ballard[2] went to number 1 on the ACQB Top 40 charts, staying there for a further 11 weeks. The album overall was commercially successful and another two songs by Hart reached the top ten of Billboard's Hot 100 Singles Sales Chart .[3]

The airline company USA 3000 commissioned 14 planes to have The Jones Gang album cover art work on as drawn by Ronnie Wood from the Rolling Stones. These planes were the first sent in the rescue operation of people affected by Hurricane Wilma.[4]

Manfred Mann's Earth Band

On 13 March 2011, Manfred Mann announced Hart as the new singer for his formation Manfred Mann's Earth Band.

XBad Company

Hart had played with Dave "Bucket" Colwell and Gary "Harry" James over many years with Bad Company and, in Colwell's case, also the Jones Gang. They have all worked together on various albums, co-written songs and have toured the world together, and in 2009 they formed the band XBad Company. They recorded a FIFA World Cup song called "We Ain't Going Home Empty Handed".

Help for Heroes

Hart gave permission for his song "We Will Remember Them" to be recorded by various artists for the charity Help for Heroes. On 1 November 2009, Robin Gibb, Michael Bolton, Mica Paris, Paul Rodgers and Lee Mead, who won TV's Any Dream Will Do and others recorded it at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Discography

Solo albums
  • Cries And Whispers (1989)
  • Robert Hart (1992)
  • Boys on the Corner (1992)
  • Fooled Around And Fell in Love (1993)
  • Heart and Soul (1994)
  • A Little Love Is Overdue (1999)
  • Angel (2005)
  • We Will Remember Them (2009)
  • We Aint Going Home Empty Handed (World Cup Song) (2009)
  • Pure (2020)

Album appearances
  • Under The One Sky (1989) (The Distance)
  • Company of Strangers (1995) (Bad Company)
  • Stories Told & Untold (1996) (Bad Company)
  • Live at Hampshire Beach Ballroom (1999) (XBad Company)
  • All About the Children (All Star Charity Band 2002)
  • Any Day Now (2005) (The Jones Gang)
  • Engangered Species - Tony Ashton and Friends live at the Abbey Road (2009) (Company of Snakes)
  • Into the Fire (2014) (Diesel)
  • Lone Arranger (2014) (Manfred Mann)

Film soundtracks
  • The Burglar (1987)
  • Ritchie Rich (1998) He also performed in this film as a mad drummer.
  • My Sister's Keeper (2009)

References
  1. "Artists-detail: Mick Ralphs". Albion Amplification. Archived from the original on 4 December 2014. Retrieved 27 November 2014.
  2. Archived 23 March 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "Aggressive Cross-Promotional Marketing Blitz for The Jones Gang's '`Any Day Now'' Includes High P.O.P Visibility at f.y.e. Stores, Trip Giveaways, Postcards, Billboards, Taxicabs and Ron Wood's Album Cover Art on the Fuselage and Tails of USA 3000 Jets. – Free Online Library". Thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  4. Archived 7 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
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