1. Eric Michael Stewart was born on 20 January 1945 and is an English singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer, best known as a founding member of the rock groups the Mindbenders with whom he played from 1963 to 1968, and likewise of 10cc from 1972 to 1995.
Eric Stewart collaborated with McCartney extensively in the 1980s, playing on or co-writing songs for McCartney's solo albums Tug of War, Pipes of Peace, Give My Regards to Broad Street, and Press to Play.
Eric Stewart was invited to join local band Jerry Lee and the Staggerlees, which after a year changed its name to the Emperors of Rhythm.
Eric Stewart remained with the band for two years and was at the Oasis club in Manchester in early 1963 on the evening that Wayne Fontana had an audition with a record company representative.
The band toured the US with Herman's Hermits in July and August 1965, producing wild scenes Eric Stewart compared with Beatlemania.
Eric Stewart was devoting more time to songwriting having written several B-sides and album tracks.
Eric Stewart became disenchanted with the Mindbenders towards the end of its existence, realising the material they were playing was drifting further from the music for which they had gained chart success.
Eric Stewart was invited to play lead guitar at one session and he and Gouldman soon began offering the pair regular session work at Strawberry.
The single became a worldwide hit, reaching No 2 in Britain and No 22 in the US, and was followed by an album, Thinks: School Stinks, which Eric Stewart later described as "a little ahead of its time".
American singer Neil Sedaka began recording his Solitaire album at Strawberry Studios in early 1972, using Stewart as recording engineer, and Gouldman, Godley and Creme as his backing band.
Eric Stewart phoned entrepreneur and producer Jonathan King, whom he had known since the Mindbenders days, and invited him to hear it.
The album was an amalgam of solo material by Gouldman and Eric Stewart, written and recorded separately, and was the final one for 10cc.
Eric Stewart has subsequently refused any offers and requests for a reunion.
The band had previously suffered a major setback in 1979 when Eric Stewart was seriously injured in a car crash.
Eric Stewart became involved with Paul McCartney from the early 1980s.
Eric Stewart played on three of McCartney's albums, took part in the "Take It Away" and "So Bad" music videos as well as the Give My Regards to Broad Street film.
Later Eric Stewart started writing music together with McCartney which eventually led to Eric Stewart co-writing more than half of Paul McCartney's Press to Play.
From 1990, Eric Stewart began to participate as a guest vocalist on the last The Alan Parsons Project album Freudiana and later on Parsons' Try Anything Once and On Air.
In 2000s, Eric Stewart returned to recording solo albums with Do Not Bend, while his fourth solo album, Viva la Difference, was originally planned to come out in 2007, but delayed until 2009.
In 2017, Eric Stewart released his autobiography titled The Things I Do for Love as iOS ebook.