Richard Paul Ashcroft (born September 11, 1971 in Billinge Maternity Hospital in Billinge Higher End, Lancashire (now part of the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, Greater Manchester) is an English singer-songwriter. He is the lead singer of The Verve, an English rock band that he helped form in 1989. After that band's demise in 1999, Ashcroft embarked on a successful solo career, before reuniting again with The Verve in June 2007.
Ashcroft grew up in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. His father died when Richard was 11. Ashcroft soon fell under the influence of his stepfather, who belonged to the Rosicrucians. In 2006, Ashcroft confessed to taking Prozac to help him with depression, but said that they didn't help, referring to the pills as "very, very synthetic." Ashcroft has said that he's always been "a depressive, someone who suffers from depression", and that music and creativity help him cope with his illness.
While in Skelmersdale, Ashcroft was an avid football player, and he still closely follows his favourite team, Manchester United. He has also admitted to cheering for Wigan Athletic, since he actually played for the youth team when he was young.
He is good friends with Oasis' Noel Gallagher and Coldplay's Chris Martin (whom Ashcroft once thanked for "letting me be myself again"), and occasionally plays as support at Oasis and Coldplay concerts, including the European and second UK legs of Coldplay's 'Twisted Logic Tour'. He recently described himself as "the best support act you'll ever see." The Oasis track "Cast No Shadow" is dedicated to him, and it is believed that Ashcroft dedicated The Verve's 1995 song "Northern Soul" to Gallagher. Martin introduced him as "the best singer in the world" when he performed "Bitter Sweet Symphony" (which Martin called "probably the best song ever written") with Coldplay at the London Live 8 concert in 2005. On his second album, Human Conditions, Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson performs on the song "Nature is the Law". Ashcroft is married to Kate Radley, the former keyboard player for British shoegaze band Spiritualized. Together, they have two sons: Sonny, born in 2000, and Cassius, born in 2004.
Ashcroft's third solo album, Keys to the World, was recorded with the co-operation of the London Metropolitan Orchestra, and released on January 23, 2006, by Parlophone. The first single from the album, "Break the Night with Colour", was released on January 9, 2006, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3. Around the time of the album's release, Ashcroft announced his largest UK tour for years for May 2006, culminating in three nights at London's Brixton Academy. He opened for the second half of Coldplay's tour, starting March 14, 2006, in Ottawa. The second single released from Keys To The World was "Music Is Power", which charted at number 20. The next single, "Words Just Get in the Way", charted even lower, barely making it into the Top 40 at the number 40 position after receiving barely any promotion or airplay.
On more than one occasion, Ashcroft and his bandmates have run into trouble by borrowing words and ideas from other artists. The most notable of these conflicts spawned from The Verve's biggest hit, "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which uses the Andrew Oldham Orchestra recording of The Rolling Stones' 1965 song "The Last Time" as its foundation. In a well-publicized legal decision, the Rolling Stones' record company was awarded 100 percent of the royalties from "Bitter Sweet Symphony", and Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were given songwriting credits along with Ashcroft. Legal ownership of the song created further controversy when Jagger and Richards gave Nike, Inc. license to use the song in one of its TV commercials, against The Verve's wishes.
Another of Ashcroft's more well-known adaptations is found in the song "History". The first two verses of "History" are closely based on the first two stanzas of William Blake's poem "London".
It has now been announced on Richard's official site that after 8 years since their acrimonious split, The Verve have reformed. They are to release an album at the end of the summer 2007 which will coincide with a tour in November 2007. The tour starts in Glasgow on the 2nd November, and will include performances at The Glasgow Academy, The Empress Ballroom and the London Roundhouse. In a statement the band stated they were "Getting back together for the joy of the music".
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