Leo Sayer (born Gerard Hugh Sayer, 21 May 1948, Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex) is an English singer-songwriter and musician, now based in Australia, whose singing career has spanned four decades.
Sayer has had success worldwide with his single and album releases, particularly in the UK and the U.S. He was initially discovered by David Courtney, who co-managed him with the singer-turned-manager, Adam Faith. Sayer began his music career co-writing songs with David Courtney, including "Giving It All Away," which gave Roger Daltrey of The Who his first hit as a soloist in 1973.
That same year, Sayer began his career as a recording artist. At the time of his initial chart breakthrough in Britain, with his debut hit "The Show Must Go On," he wore a pierrot style outfit and make-up.
He had subsequent single hits with "One Man Band" (1974), "Long Tall Glasses" (1975) and "Moonlighting" (1975).
In 1976, Sayer released three Beatles songs, "I Am the Walrus", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road" in the movie All This and World War II.
In 1977, he had a US number one with "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (a U.S. Grammy winner for the year's best Rhythm and Blues Song), the romantic ballad, "When I Need You" (1977), which reached number one in both the UK and U.S. Sayer also had remakes of Bobby Vee's Sonny Curtis/Jerry Allison composition, "More Than I Can Say" (his fourth UK number 2 hit, and in the U.S., number 2 pop and number one in the adult contemporary chart), and Buddy Holly's "Raining In My Heart" (1979) and "Orchard Road" in 1983. In the U.S., three of his singles - "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" (1977), "When I Need You," (1977) and "More Than I Can Say" (1980) - were certified gold.
Sayer made an appearance on The Muppet Show during the third season (second show) on which he sang "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing," "The Show Must Go On," and "When I Need You."
He also provided songs for the soundtrack for the English language version of the French-Belgian animated film, The Missing Link (1980).
In 1990, he contributed to the last recording studio collaboration between Alan Parsons and Eric Woolfson, Woolfson's solo album Freudiana, performing "I Am A Mirror".
In 2000, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" was featured in the hit film, Charlie's Angels, and was on the accompanying soundtrack album.
Sayer's debut UK hit, "The Show Must Go On," was covered by Three Dog Night for the U.S. market and reached number four on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1974. Phil Collins covered Sayer's Billy Nichols' song "I Can't Stop Loving You" (originally a U.K. No.6 hit for Sayer) for his 2002 album, Testify. It reached number one on the U.S. adult contemporary chart.
In 2005, Sayer moved to Sydney, Australia, where he remains based to this day. On 12 February 2006, made a surprise return to number one in the UK Singles Chart, with Meck's remix of "Thunder In My Heart." He has also appeared in the Australian comedy, Stupid, Stupid Man.
Leo Sayer: At His Very Best, a career spanning compilation album, was released in the UK on 6 March 2006. It exclusively features the Meck single, alongside Sayer classics such as, "When I Need You" and "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing".
In 2007, Sayer was the fifth person to join the Celebrity Big Brother UK house at the start of the series.
Sayer walked out of the Big Brother house on 12 January ostensibly because he was refused a supply of fresh underwear.
In January 1967, while Sayer was working as a hall porter at the King's Hotel in Hove, he assisted in the rescue of guests from a fire that damaged the first floor of the hotel. He was rescued by builders working on a block of flats beside the hotel.
Sayer made a guest appearance on The Wiggles 2008 DVD, "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". The DVD features the Sayer musical hit of the same name.
In 2008 Sayer released a new album in Australia, "Don't Wait Until Tomorrow". This album, produced by Garth Porter (from Australian Pop Band Sherbet), and released by Universal Music Australia, features selections from his catalogue in an entirely new setting, re-arranged with strings and acoustic and jazz instrumentation.
