Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward (born David Justin Hayward, 14 October 1946, in Swindon, Wiltshire), is an English musician, best known as a singer, guitarist and composer in the rock band, The Moody Blues.
Career
In 1965, Hayward worked with Marty Wilde and his wife, Joyce, in The Wilde Three. Aged 16, he signed a publishing contract with the skiffle artist and record producer, Lonnie Donegan - a move that Hayward later regretted as it meant that the rights to all his songs written before 1974 would always be owned by Donegan's Tyler Music.
Moody Blues
Hayward joined the Moody Blues in 1966, replacing the departing vocalist / guitarist, Denny Laine. Bassist John Lodge replaced Clint Warwick at the same time.
Hayward and Lodge's integration into the Moody Blues sparked greater commercial success and recognition for the band, transforming them into one of the biggest selling acts of all-time.
The 1967 album Days of Future Passed, one of the first and most influential symphonic rock albums, spawned the Hayward-penned singles "Tuesday Afternoon" and the classic, "Nights in White Satin", the latter of which went on to sell in excess of two million copies. Hayward also wrote the band's UK number two hit, "Question", as well as most of the group's other singles including "Driftwood", "The Voice", "Blue World", "Your Wildest Dreams" and "I Know You're Out There Somewhere".
Their album sales from 1978 to the present are in excess of 60 million.
1974 onwards
In 1974, the Moody Blues decided to take what ended up being a four year break from performing and recording. Hayward however, continued working with John Lodge, using musicians and producers from the Moody Blues label, Threshold, and sounding very much like the mother group. Together, they had a hit in 1975 with "Blue Guitar" (which actually was a Hayward solo-recording) and released an album entitled Blue Jays. Hayward has also written four prominent songs with Moodies flautist Ray Thomas.
Hayward found international solo success in 1978, appearing on the Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds concept album, which yielded his hits "Forever Autumn" and "The Eve of the War". Wayne went on to contribute to Hayward's 1980 album Night Flight.
During the 1980s, Hayward composed and performed for film and television, including the theme song "It Won't Be Easy" for the 1987 BBC2 science fiction series Star Cops, "Something Evil, Something Dangerous" for the film Howling IV: The Original Nightmare, "Eternal Woman" for She and music for The Shoe People.
In 1989, with producer-arranger Mike Batt, Hayward released Classic Blue - an album of pop standards written by other composers, set to orchestration and arranged by Batt. His most recent solo album, View From The Hill, was released in 1996 and a live recording, Live in San Juan Capistrano followed in 1998.
Hayward contributed vocals to a song on Rick Wakeman's 1999 album, Return to the Centre of the Earth.
In 2003 he sang most of the songs on another orchestral album, this time Moody Blues songs with the Frankfurt Rock Orchestra, Justin Hayward and Friends perform the Hits of the Moody Blues (alternatively titled sing The Moody Blues Classic Hits).
In April 2006, Hayward took part in the stage tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds and will be reprising his role in the second tour in December 2007.
In a recent BBC World Service interview, Hayward and John Lodge made it clear they have no plans to stop working and regarded it as "a privilege" to still be working in the music industry.
Awards
Hayward was awarded the first of numerous ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1974. In 1985, the Moody Blues picked up the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, followed in 1988 by Hayward receiving the Ivor Novello Award, among other honours, for Composer of the Year (for "I Know You're Out There Somewhere"). In 2004, Hayward was awarded the "Gold Badge" for lifetime achievement by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors to add to the "Golden Note" for lifetime achievement that he was awarded in 2000 by the American Society of Songwriters, Composers and Publishers (one of only a handful of British artists to have received this award, the previous before Hayward being Elton John in 1991).
Compositions
- 1968 ~ "Voices in the Sky" on In Search of the Lost Chord
Solo discography
- Blue Jays (1975) with John Lodge
- Songwriter (1977)
- Night Flight (1980)
- Moving Mountains (1985)
- Classic Blue (1989) with Mike Batt
- View From The Hill (1996)
- Justin Hayward Live in San Juan Capistrano (1998)
- Justin Hayward and Friends Sing The Moody Blues Classic Hits (2003)