Peter Frampton

The son of a Bromley schoolteacher, Peter Frampton was something of a child star, forming his first school band at the age of 10 and becoming singer and lead guitarist with psychedelic group The Herd at 16. The Herd had a major hit with the eerie From The Underworld and teen mag Rave dubbed him "the face of 1968". Wanting to be taken more seriously, he left The Herd to form a new group, Humble Pie, with Steve Marriott, playing a hardier, bluesier style of music. Their progressive approach won them a big live following and Frampton recorded five albums with them, leaving in 1971 to launch his solo career. Ringo Starr and Billy Preston guested on his debut solo album Wind Of Change, followed by Frampton's Camel (1973), Somethin's Happening (1974) and Frampton (1975). But it was Frampton Comes Alive (1976), mostly recorded on stage in San Francisco, which was his big breakthrough, the top seller of 1976 and one of the best-selling live albums of all time; spending 10 weeks at Number 1 in the US album charts. Capturing the intensity of his stage act, it included the hits Baby, I Love Your Way and Show Me The Way but follow-up I'm In You (1977) flopped badly in comparison. He later collaborated with his old friend David Bowie, reunited with Steve Marriott and continued to tour successfully throughout the 1980s and 1990s. In 1995 he released Frampton Comes Alive 2 and continued to be well regarded, releasing the Now album in 2003. This was followed by the instrumental album Fingerprints (2006) - which won a Grammy - and Thank You Mr Churchill (2010) after which he toured with Yes.