Graham Parker Biography

The English musician and songwriter Graham Parker was born in 1950 in London. Long before Parker rose to fame as the front man for the band Graham Parker & the Rumour, he took an interest in music as a young teenager, forming his first band when he was only thirteen. After leaving school at the age of sixteen, Graham took a number of odd jobs until the early 1970’s, when he moved to Gibraltar.

While in Gibraltar, Parker joined the band Pegasus, which was traveling through Morocco, performing at various nightclubs. It was his first genuine foray into the music industry, but short-lived, and he returned to London to further study the guitar and form his own group. After teaming up with musicians Steve Goulding, Andrew Bodnar, Martin Belmont, Bob Andrews, and Brinsley Schwarz, Graham Parker formed Graham Parker and the Rumour. The rest, as they say, is history.

Graham Parker and the Rumour garnered enthusiasm right away, with their breakthrough album Howlin’ Wind (1976.) The group became known right away for Parker’s eccentric and high-energy performance style, a style which would go on to influence such notable musicians as Joe Jackson Booking Agent & Management" href="https://www.bookingentertainment.com/artists/adult/ Joe_Jackson.php"> Joe Jackson and Elvis Costello, and pave the way for the punk rock era to follow.  A number of successful albums followed, including: Heat Treatment (1976), Stick to Me (1977), Squeezing Out Sparks (1979), and The Up Escalator (1980.) Notable singles from Graham Parker and the Rumour include: “Hold Back the Night,” “Sweet on You,” and “Temporary Beauty.” Parker himself also had a number of solo albums released throughout the 1980’s, 1990’s and into the the new millennium, the most recent of which – Imaginary Television – arrived in 2010.

Graham Parker continues to perform and record, and in 2011, he reunited with his former Rumours members to record the album Three Chords Good. The album arrived in 2012, and shortly thereafter, Parker and the Rumour appeared in the film This is 40, performing as themselves.