Wayne Hussey

Hussey grew up in Bristol. He was influenced at a young age by Marc Bolan and his band T. Rex, and was thus inspired to become a guitarist. Brought up in the LDS Church, he rebelled against his parents' wishes that he serve as a missionary and moved to Liverpool in the late 1970s to join the scene around Eric's Club, a noted nightclub of the time.[3]

Hussey started to perform, most notably with Pauline Murray and The Invisible Girls, with whom he started songwriting. The first success for Hussey came when he joined Dead or Alive at the request of frontman Pete Burns. After Burns retreated to become more studio-based, Hussey decided to leave and was offered a position with The Sisters of Mercy, concentrating on 12-string and 6-string guitars, contributing to arrangements and using his higher ranged voice for backing vocals which contrasted with Andrew Eldritch's melancholic baritone. When the Sisters of Mercy disbanded, Hussey and bassist Craig Adams set up The Mission, recruiting Mick Brown on drums and Simon Hinkler on guitars. He lived in Leeds for a while before moving to London towards the end of the 1980s.[2]

Hussey has produced and played on records by The Mission's Mercury Records labelmates All About Eve and in the late 1990s provided some remixes for Cleopatra Records. He also produced, remixed and appeared on some tracks for the US band Gossamer including the track "Run" for the first Unquiet Grave compilation by Cleopatra Records. He also produced and played on Brilliant Mistakes by the Greek band Flowers of Romance. Hussey has played live with both Gary Numan and The Cure. He is a Liverpool F.C. supporter and after his team's victory in the Champions League Final of 2005, he composed the song entitled "Draped in Red" featured on the album God is a Bullet.[4]

In 2019 Hussey released his autobiography "Salad Daze".[5]

Hussey currently lives in São Paulo, Brazil, married to a Brazilian actress, Cinthya, and has two children from previous relationships.[3]

Since 2002, Hussey has regularly played solo shows that features Mission material, new songs and covers. After he wound up The Mission for the second time in early 2009, he released his first solo album called Bare in October of that year on the Sony Music label. (In Germany, there are four bonus tracks.)[6]

In May 2009, Hussey announced on The Mission's website and in an interview on BBC 6 Music that he and Julianne Regan were working together on an album of cover songs, reinterpretations of old material and new songs, and invited fans to suggest songs for the duo to cover. This album was eventually released in the autumn of 2011 as Curios under the name Hussey-Regan on Cherry Red Records. In 2014, he released his second solo album, Songs of Candlelight & Razorblades, of largely acoustic songs.[7]

In August 2020 Hussey re-recorded "Tower of Strength" as ReMission International TOS 2020, in support of key workers dealing with Covid-19 globally. All proceeds went to charities personally chosen by each contributor to TOS2020. On this project Wayne collaborated with friends and musicians including : Michael Ciravolo, Andy Rourke, Billy Duffy, Budgie, Evi Vine, Gary Numan, James Alexander Graham (from The Twilight Sad), Jay Aston, Julianne Regan, Kevin Haskins, Kirk Brandon, Lol Tolhurst, Martin Gore, Michael Aston, Midge Ure, Miles Hunt, Rachel Goswell, Richard Fortus, Robin Finck, Tim Palmer, Trentemøller.[8] [9] [10]

When playing live solo, Hussey uses a Martin D42. When playing live with the band, Hussey currently uses a Schecter Corsair 12-string made especially for him for The Mission's 25th anniversary shows in late 2011;[11] he has previously used a Gretsch White Falcon. In the studio, he uses both a Fender Telecaster and Fender Starcaster. His signature 12-string setup currently has a Fender Electric, a Vox Teardrop, an Ovation Acoustic, and a Taylor acoustic. During his time with the Sisters, he used an Aria Pro II.

• Wayne Hussey on Myspace