Gilbert O’Sullivan

He was the superstar who topped the UK and US single charts in the 70s with songs of endearing tunefulness, unabashed sentiment and existentialist musings. Today, Irish singer-songwriter Gilbert O’Sullivan continues to be regarded with tremendous affection and his songs remain well-loved around the world.

Gilbert O’Sullivan was born Raymond Edward O’Sullivan in 1946 in Ireland. After forming and joining local bands as a drummer/vocalist, he started writing his own songs, heavily influenced by The Beatles as writers and Bob Dylan as a performer. Calling himself Gilbert, with a very distinctive image, two singles released by CBS Records and one with the Major Minor label, got little attention. Undeterred, he sent a demo tape to Gordon Mills, the man behind Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, who impressed with his song writing, became his manager. The result was his first single on the MAM label, Nothing Rhymed, became a UK Top Ten hit in 1970.

More hit singles and a debut album Himself followed. But it was 1972’s Alone Again (Naturally) that sealed his fame, topping the USA charts for six weeks and garnering three Grammy nominations. Soon after, he got his first three British number one hits with Clair, Get Down and LPBack to Front. Gilbert was named “Songwriter of the Year” at the 18th Ivor Novello Awards, embarked on an 18-city UK tour and a USA tour, performed sold-out concerts, clocked another UK Top 10 hit with Why Oh Why Oh Why and in 1974 won a third Ivor Novello award. Cover versions of his songs continue to be released, in particular ‘Alone Again, (Naturally)’, with the latest being Neil Diamond and Diana Krall featuring Michael Buble.

Gilbert O’Sullivan is as creative now as he has ever been across an outstanding career, and the past few years have seen Gilbert O’Sullivan showcase many sides of his musical personality. Be it live shows with his band, full orchestral performances in the UK and Ireland or exploring Latin music on 2015’s Latin Ala G! album, the iconic songwriter has continued to look to the future while his famous back catalogue has, as ever, won him the respect and adoration of fellow musicians and audiences all over the world. His recent albums, 2018’s Ethan Johns-produced ‘Gilbert O’Sullivan’ and this year’s Andy Wright-produced ‘Driven’ (both awarded 4-stars in MOJO magazine), both entered the charts in the Top 30 and Top 20 and have seen a rightful renaissance and reappraisal of this Irish born, outstanding British talent.