John Stephen Parr was born on 18 November 1952 and is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, best known for his 1985 single "St Elmo's Fire ", charting at number one in the US and number six in the UK, and for his 1984 US number-six rock single "Naughty Naughty".
35 Facts About John Parr
2.
John Parr has written and performed ten major motion-picture theme songs, including Three Men and a Baby and The Running Man.
3.
John Parr first entered the music scene when he was 12 years old and formed a band with two fellow schoolmates, which they named The Silence.
4.
John Parr then joined a band named Bitter Suite, who were a success in the working men's clubs in Yorkshire, he then formed a supergroup with musicians from other working men's club bands, and named the band Ponders End, a band that set a new precedent for the bands in the north.
5.
John Parr secured a publishing deal with Carlin America in 1983 and in the same year Meat Loaf asked him to write some songs for his new album.
6.
John Parr first visited America in 1984 and worked with Meat Loaf on Bad Attitude.
7.
In 1985, John Parr toured with his band "The Business" supporting Toto, his first show with Toto at Carowinds Paladium, and playing 10,000-seat venues across America.
8.
The song was tipped to take the Academy Award for best original song, but was not allowed onto the short list as, with John Parr saying the song was written about Hansen and not the movie, it did not meet the Academy's criteria.
9.
John Parr went on to tour with Tina Turner on the Private Dancer Tour and with Heart and the Beach Boys.
10.
John Parr later wrote "Under a Raging Moon" with Julia Downes for Roger Daltrey, a song that paid tribute to Keith Moon and told the story of the Who.
11.
John Parr Entwistle had wanted to include the song in the set at Live Aid but was outvoted by the band.
12.
John Parr was singing with Marilyn Martin on the song "Through the Night", from the Quicksilver soundtrack.
13.
John Parr wrote and produced further tracks for Martin's debut album, including the hit "Night Moves".
14.
John Parr has written songs for Tom Jones, the Monkees, Tygers of Pan Tang, Romeo's Daughter, David Essex and Bucks Fizz.
15.
John Parr was the featured act, having done two similar shows.
16.
That same year John Parr was signed by US clothing designer "Chams De Baron" to promote their sports leisure range, and featured in fashion magazines followed, and a US-wide poster campaign used John Parr's image on America's major city buses for the summer.
17.
Later that year, John Parr co-presented the UK leg of the American Music Awards with Phil Collins.
18.
In 1988, John Parr was offered the opportunity to collaborate with "Mutt" Lange by co-producing an album for Romeo's Daughter.
19.
In 1989, John Parr played the lead role in the soundtrack album for Paris, an epic rock opera written by Jon English and David Mackay.
20.
John Parr performed with the London Symphony Orchestra alongside Harry Nilsson, Demis Roussos, Francis Rossi and Barry Humphries.
21.
John Parr is known for co-writing "The Best ", the theme used in a series of highly successful Gillette razor commercials from the 1980s onwards, spawning the company's chief slogan.
22.
On 26 March 2007, John Parr released "Walking Out of the Darkness", a tribute to Doncaster Rovers FC ahead of the club's appearance in the Football League Trophy final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 1 April 2007.
23.
In May 2007, John Parr returned to Canada to perform at the Man in Motion 20th anniversary.
24.
In June 2007, John Parr wrote and recorded the main title for Sony Pictures, The Brothers Solomon, directed by Bob Odenkirk.
25.
Twenty years earlier, John Parr joined Adams in his home town where they played to 75,000 at the Canadian Exhibition Centre in Vancouver.
26.
In June 2008, John Parr was a special guest for the US rock band Journey on their UK tour.
27.
In May 2011, John Parr performed an acoustic set as a special guest of Richard Marx on his UK tour.
28.
John Parr released a double album titled Letter to America on 1 June 2011, and subsequently toured in America.
29.
On 11 October 2011, John Parr was a guest on ESPN show, SportsNation, where he sang a special rendition of "St Elmo's Fire", replacing the words with Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow.
30.
John Parr's quest is to raise funds and awareness of the welfare of military personnel as they return home from active duty and transition back into civilian life.
31.
At the O2, John Parr joined producer Tony Visconti, Woody Woodmansey, Glenn Gregory and many members of the original Bowie band to perform in the "Man Who Sold the World" concert.
32.
John Parr continued his work with the military playing concerts and fund raisers for Help For Heroes.
33.
John Parr wrote and recorded "Man of Steel" for the late rugby league footballer; Steve Prescott.
34.
One of John Parr's sons, Ben, is an actor who is best known for the role of Freddie in the soap Hollyoaks.
35.
John Parr appeared in the BBC drama The Curse of Steptoe.