Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is the co-founder and only consistent member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. He has written all of the band's music since 1972, including hits such as "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Do Ya", "Rockaria!", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Shine a Little Love", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight". He also has had a solo career, with two albums: Armchair Theatre (1990) and Long Wave (2012). Born in Birmingham, Lynne became interested in music during his youth and was heavily inspired by the Beatles. He began his music career in 1963 as a member of the Andicaps, then left the group the next year to join the Chads. From 1966 to 1970, he was a founding member and principal songwriter of the Idle Race. In 1970, he accepted Roy Wood's offer to join the Move and was a major contributor to the band's last two albums. Later that year, Lynne, Wood and Bev Bevan formed the band ELO as a side project to which they intended to devote most of their energies, out of their desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Following Wood's departure from ELO in 1972, Lynne assumed sole leadership of the band and wrote, arranged and produced virtually all of its subsequent records. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album Out of the Blue (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of the British chart: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science fiction–themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986, Lynne disbanded the group after losing interest in it, though he...