1. Jeffrey Lynne was born on 30 December 1947 and is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer.
60 Facts About Jeff Lynne
1. 2.
Jeff Lynne is the co-founder and, latterly, sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra which was formed in 1970.
3.
Jeff Lynne has had a solo career, with two albums: Armchair Theatre and Long Wave.
4.
Jeff Lynne began his music career in 1963 as a member of the Andicaps, then left the group the next year to join the Chads.
5.
In 1986, Jeff Lynne disbanded the group after losing interest in it.
6.
Jeff Lynne produced all fifteen ELO singles that rose to the Top 10 record charts in the UK.
7.
In 2014, Jeff Lynne received a star on the Birmingham Walk of Stars and was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the following year.
8.
Jeff Lynne received three Ivor Novello Awards, including the award for Outstanding Services to British Music.
9.
In 2017, Jeff Lynne was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of ELO, and was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2020.
10.
Jeff Lynne was born in Erdington, Birmingham, England, to Nancy and Philip Jeff Lynne, and grew up nearby in Shard End, Birmingham, where he attended Alderlea Boys' Secondary School.
11.
In 1963, Jeff Lynne formed a group with Robert Reader and David Walsh using little more than Spanish guitars and cheap electrical instruments.
12.
However, in 1964, Robert Reader and David Walsh left the band and Jeff Lynne brought in replacements.
13.
Jeff Lynne says it "taught me how to be a producer".
14.
In 1966, Jeff Lynne joined the line-up of the Nightriders as guitarist, having responded to an advertisement in the Birmingham Evening Mail.
15.
Jeff Lynne spent an hour at the session, before going back to the sessions with the Idle Race.
16.
In 1970, Jeff Lynne accepted an offer from friend Roy Wood to join the line-up of the more successful band the Move.
17.
Jeff Lynne was never interested in being a part of the Move.
18.
Bassist Kelly Groucutt's distinctive voice mixed with Jeff Lynne's to produce the classic ELO harmonic vocal sound.
19.
Jeff Lynne has often stated that he prefers the creative environment of the studio to the rigours and tedium of touring.
20.
Jeff Lynne followed up the success of Out of the Blue with Discovery, which held No 1 in the UK for 5 weeks.
21.
In 1979, Jeff Lynne rejected an offer for ELO to headline the Knebworth Concert in the UK, allowing Led Zeppelin to headline instead.
22.
Nevertheless, Jeff Lynne was not closely involved with the development of the film, and his material consequently had only superficial attachment to the plot.
23.
Jeff Lynne took the band in a somewhat different direction with the science-fiction themed album Time, reaching number one for two weeks in the UK, producing the second Top 3 single in less than two years.
24.
Jeff Lynne discusses the contractually-obligated nature of the final albums on the short interview included with the 'Zoom' DVD.
25.
ELO now had only three remaining official members, and Jeff Lynne began devoting more time to producing.
26.
In 1976, Jeff Lynne covered the Beatles songs "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Nowhere Man" for All This and World War II.
27.
Jeff Lynne produced and wrote the 1983 top-40 hit "Slipping Away" for Dave Edmunds and played on sessions for Edmunds's album, Information.
28.
Jeff Lynne produced six tracks on Edmunds's follow-up album in 1984, Riff Raff.
29.
Jeff Lynne wrote the songs "The Story of Me," which was recorded by the Everly Brothers on their comeback album EB84, and "One Way Love" from Agnetha Faltskog her second post-ABBA album, Eyes of a Woman.
30.
Jeff Lynne started working with George Harrison very closely in the late 1980s.
31.
In 1988, Jeff Lynne worked on Orbison's album Mystery Girl, co-writing and producing Orbison's last major hit, "You Got It", plus two other tracks on that album.
32.
Jeff Lynne contributed three tracks to an album by Duane Eddy and "Falling in Love" on Land of Dreams for Randy Newman.
33.
In 1990, Jeff Lynne collaborated on the Wilburys' follow up Traveling Wilburys Vol.
34.
Jeff Lynne provided the song "Wild Times" to the motion picture soundtrack Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
35.
In 1991, Jeff Lynne returned to the studio with Petty, co-writing and producing the album Into the Great Wide Open for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which featured the singles "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open".
36.
In February 1994, Jeff Lynne worked with the three surviving Beatles on the Anthology album series.
37.
At Harrison's request, Jeff Lynne was brought in to assist in reevaluating John Lennon's original studio material.
38.
Jeff Lynne worked on the song "Now and Then", which remained unfinished until 2023.
39.
Jeff Lynne has produced records for Ringo Starr and worked on Paul McCartney's Grammy-nominated album Flaming Pie.
40.
In 1996, Jeff Lynne was officially recognised by his peers when he was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Contributions to British Music" for a second time.
41.
Jeff Lynne was heavily involved in the memorial Concert for George, held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, which featured Traveling Wilburys member Petty.
42.
Jeff Lynne reunited in 2006 with Petty to produce the latter's third solo release, Highway Companion.
43.
Jeff Lynne produced four tracks on Regina Spektor's fifth album Far, released on 23 June 2009.
44.
Jeff Lynne suggested that a new album with original material could be released during 2013.
45.
On 9 February 2014, Jeff Lynne performed George Harrison's "Something" with Joe Walsh and Dhani Harrison on The Night That Changed America: A Grammy Salute to The Beatles, as well as "Hey Bulldog" from the Yellow Submarine soundtrack, while accompanying Dave Grohl, commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Beatles' performance on The Ed Sullivan Show.
46.
On 5 March 2014, Jeff Lynne received an honorary doctorate degree from Birmingham City University.
47.
Jeff Lynne mentioned he was working with Bryan Adams on new material.
48.
Never particularly enthusiastic for live performance even in his younger days, Jeff Lynne has called this event "easily the best concert I've ever been involved with".
49.
On 8 February 2015, Jeff Lynne appeared at the Grammy Awards, playing "Evil Woman" and "Mr Blue Sky" with Ed Sheeran.
50.
On 10 September 2015, Jeff Lynne's website announced he had signed a contract to deliver an album of new ELO music for Columbia Records marking the first time in 14 years new ELO music would be released.
51.
Jeff Lynne's ELO played two concerts at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, on 16 and 18 September 2016 respectively.
52.
On 2 August 2018, Lynne and his band Jeff Lynne's ELO began a 10-city tour of North America which included Oakland, Los Angeles, Denver, Houston, Dallas, Rosemont, Illinois, Detroit, New York City, Philadelphia and Toronto.
53.
On 12 September 2018, Jeff Lynne's ELO began a tour throughout Europe including dates in Stockholm, Oslo, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Mannheim, Vienna, Amsterdam, Nottingham, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle upon Tyne, Birmingham, Leeds, London, Liverpool, Dublin and Belfast.
54.
On 20 June 2019, Jeff Lynne's ELO began a North American tour with Dhani Harrison.
55.
On 26 September 2019, Jeff Lynne's ELO announced a new album, called From Out of Nowhere, which was released on 1 November of the same year.
56.
On 18 March 2024, Jeff Lynne's ELO announced the Over And Out Tour, a final tour of North America that would span from August to October 2024.
57.
In December 2024, Jeff Lynne received an award from Spotify celebrating 1 billion streams of ELO's biggest hit, "Mr Blue Sky".
58.
Jeff Lynne was married to his first wife Rosemary Adams, from 1972 to 1977, and then to Sandi Kapelson, with whom he has two daughters, in 1979.
59.
Jeff Lynne was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2020 Birthday Honours for services to music.
60.
For releases of bands which Jeff Lynne was a member of see The Idle Race discography, the Move discography, Electric Light Orchestra discography, Traveling Wilburys discography.