Ian Scott Anderson was born on 10 August 1947 and is a British musician, singer and songwriter best known for his work as the lead vocalist, flautist, acoustic guitarist and leader of the British rock band Jethro Tull.
48 Facts About Ian Anderson
2.
Ian Anderson is a multi-instrumentalist who, in addition to flute and acoustic guitar, plays keyboards, electric guitar, bass guitar, bouzouki, balalaika, saxophone, harmonica and a variety of whistles.
3.
Ian Anderson was born in Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland, the youngest of three brothers, to an English mother and a Scottish father.
4.
Ian Anderson was influenced by his father's big band and jazz records and the emergence of rock music, but was disenchanted with the "showbiz" style of early American rock and roll stars like Elvis Presley.
5.
Ian Anderson's family moved in 1959 to Blackpool, England, where he was educated at Blackpool Grammar School.
6.
Ian Anderson studied fine art at Blackpool College of Art from 1964 to 1966 while living in Lytham St Annes.
7.
In late 1967, Ian Anderson was still holding down a day job, namely cleaning the Ritz Cinema in Luton, including the toilets, in the mornings, "which took me half the day" he said in a later interview.
8.
Ian Anderson took an old, chipped urinal from the cinema storeroom and had it for a time after leaving the job.
9.
Ian Anderson was known for his famous one-legged flute stance, and was once referred to as a "deranged flamingo".
10.
Ian Anderson decided to live up to the reputation, albeit with some difficulty.
11.
Ian Anderson already wished to start a solo career in 1980, when Jethro Tull was going to take a break after John Glascock's death.
12.
Ian Anderson wrote the album A as a solo record, but had JT's Martin Barre participation, and Dave Pegg on bass.
13.
Ian Anderson uses techniques such as over-blowing and hole-shading to produce note-slurring and other expressive techniques on this otherwise simple instrument.
14.
Ian Anderson said that around this time his daughter began taking flute lessons and noticed his fingering was incorrect, prompting him to relearn his extensive catalog with the right fingering.
15.
In 1995, Ian Anderson released his second solo album, Divinities: Twelve Dances with God, an instrumental work composed of twelve flute-heavy pieces pursuing varied themes with an underlying motif.
16.
Ian Anderson released two further song-based solo albums, The Secret Language of Birds in 2000 and Rupi's Dance in 2003.
17.
In 2003, Anderson recorded a composition called "Griminelli's Lament", in honour of his friend, the Italian flutist Andrea Griminelli.
18.
In 2011, with the end of Jethro Tull touring, and the question of his friend Derek Shulman, Ian Anderson begun to produce a sequel to Thick as a Brick, titled Thick as a Brick 2 or TAAB2, was released on 3 April 2012.
19.
Ian Anderson released a new album, Homo Erraticus, in May 2014.
20.
Ian Anderson described it as a progressive rock concept album blending rock, folk, and metal music.
21.
In September 2017, Ian Anderson announced plans for a tour to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of This Was, and a new studio album in 2019.
22.
On 2 January 2018, Ian Anderson published a New Year post on jethrotull.
23.
In 1973, Ian Anderson appeared, along with several other artists, on the cover of Time, for an article about new directions in early 1970s music.
24.
In recognition of his lifelong contribution to popular music, Ian Anderson received two honours in 2006: the Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement and an honorary Doctorate of Literature at Heriot-Watt University, on 11 July 2006.
25.
Ian Anderson was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2008 New Year Honours for services to music.
26.
Ian Anderson was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Abertay University in July 2011.
27.
At the 2013 Progressive Music Awards, Ian Anderson was presented with the "Prog God" award.
28.
Ian Anderson produced Steeleye Span's 1974 album Now We Are Six, as well as appearing on and producing Steeleye Span member Maddy Prior's first solo album Woman in the Wings, for which Jethro Tull made most instrumental contributions.
29.
Ian Anderson was a DJ on radio station Planet Rock, presenting his own two-hour show Under the Influence.
30.
Ian Anderson appeared on stage with Joe Bonamassa playing Jethro Tull song "A New Day Yesterday" at the Hammersmith Apollo in May 2010.
31.
Ian Anderson plays flute on the Men Without Hats song "On Tuesday" from their album Pop Goes the World, and on the Blackmore's Night song "Play, Minstrel, Play" from their debut album Shadow of the Moon.
32.
Ian Anderson plays flute on the 1998 Roy Harper album The Dream Society.
33.
Ian Anderson has acknowledged Harper as having a strong influence upon him.
34.
Ian Anderson has performed with Fairport Convention at their annual Cropredy Festival on several occasions since the mid-1980s, when their bass player Dave Pegg was a member of Jethro Tull.
35.
Ian Anderson played flute and sang lead vocals on a version of "The Thin Ice" for the 2005 album Back Against the Wall, an all-star tribute album covering Pink Floyd's The Wall in its entirety.
36.
Ian Anderson played the flute on the track "Cannonball" by The Darkness on their 2012 album, Hot Cakes.
37.
Ian Anderson played the flute on the track "Cry to the World" by Renaissance on their 2013 album, Grandine il vento.
38.
Ian Anderson played the flute on "The Ocean at the End", the title track from The Tea Party's 2014 album.
39.
Ian Anderson contributed flute on the song "Black Cherry Pie", the third single from JEFF the Brotherhood's 2015 album, Wasted on the Dream.
40.
From 1970 to 1974, Ian Anderson was married to Jennie Franks, a photographer who is credited with some of the lyrics to the first couple of verses of the song "Aqualung".
41.
Ian Anderson married Shona Learoyd in 1976, described by Rolling Stone magazine as a "beautiful convent-educated daughter of a wealthy wool manufacturer".
42.
Ian Anderson had studied ballet for 10 years, though when Anderson met her she was working as a press officer at Jethro Tull's then-record label, Chrysalis Records.
43.
Ian Anderson later became involved with the band's on-stage special effects.
44.
Ian Anderson is a survivor of deep vein thrombosis, and has done several public service announcements to raise awareness of the disease.
45.
Ian Anderson has described his religious beliefs as being "somewhere between deist and pantheist".
46.
Ian Anderson went on to state his belief that a likely cause of this condition has been the use of on-stage smoke machines in live performances throughout his long career.
47.
Ian Anderson continued medication to treat the condition, avoided areas of high pollution to prevent exacerbation of the disease, and practised breathing exercises to keep his lungs fit, stating that COPD had otherwise not yet affected his day-to-day routine.
48.
Ian Anderson has owned several salmon farms in the UK and Chile.