32 Facts About Justin Hayward

David Justin Hayward was born on 14 October 1946 and is an English musician.

Justin Hayward was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until that group's dissolution in 2018.

In 2018 Justin Hayward was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues and in 2022 was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire for services to the music industry.

Justin Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, the son of two teachers.

Justin Hayward was educated at Shrivenham Primary School in nearby Shrivenham, Oxfordshire, and at the Commonweal School in Swindon.

Justin Hayward was playing in several bands as early as the age of 15, when he bought a Gibson 335, a guitar that appears on nearly all of his records throughout his career, and a Vox AC30 amplifier.

Justin Hayward performed with local Swindon groups in clubs and dance halls playing mostly Buddy Holly songs.

When he was 18 he signed an eight-year publishing contract as a songwriter with the skiffle artist and record producer Lonnie Donegan, a move Justin Hayward later regretted, as it meant the rights to all his songs written before 1974 would always be owned by Donegan's Tyler Music.

In 1966, after answering another ad in Melody Maker, this time placed by Eric Burdon of The Animals, Justin Hayward was contacted by Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues after Burdon had passed on Justin Hayward's letter and demo discs to Pinder.

Justin Hayward's driving rocker "Leave This Man Alone" was then used as the B-side of their next single on Decca, backing Pinder's "Love And Beauty", the first Moody Blues record to feature the Mellotron.

The 1967 album Days of Future Passed, one of the first and most influential symphonic rock albums, gave rise to the Justin Hayward-penned singles "Tuesday Afternoon" and "Nights in White Satin".

Justin Hayward's songs opened each of the Moody Blues albums in their 'post-Mike Pinder era' since Long Distance Voyager in 1981, and his songs, both solo compositions and those co-written with Lodge, plus his lead vocals, harmony voice and guitar playing, were a major factor in the band's work from 1981 onward.

Justin Hayward continued working with Lodge and producer Tony Clarke, using musicians from the Moody Blues' label, Threshold, and sounding very much like the mother group.

Justin Hayward enjoyed international solo success in 1978 when he appeared on 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".

In 1989, with producer-arranger Mike Batt, Justin Hayward released Classic Blue, an album of pop standards written by other composers set to orchestration arranged by Batt.

On 10 March 1997, Justin Hayward was featured on the BBC One's programme This Is Your Life with Michael Aspel.

Justin Hayward contributed vocals to a song on Rick Wakeman's 1999 album Return to the Centre of the Earth.

Justin Hayward was later involved in a legal dispute, since resolved, arguing he was not paid for his participation on the album.

Justin Hayward did so again in the UK in June 2009 and appeared on the tour in November and December 2010.

In 2011, Justin Hayward contributed to the Moody Blues bluegrass tribute album Moody Bluegrass TWO.

Justin Hayward sang lead vocal on his song "It's Cold Outside Of Your Heart".

Many other Justin Hayward compositions are featured on this album as well as 2004's Moody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues.

In February 2013, Justin Hayward released his solo album Spirits of the Western Sky on the Eagle Rock label.

Justin Hayward toured solo with this album on the East coast of the US in August 2013, to much acclaim, with Moody Blues keyboardist Alan Hewitt and vocalist Julie Ragins.

Justin Hayward performed during the "On the Blue Cruise" in February 2019.

However, in an interview included on the Lovely to See You concert DVD, Justin Hayward says the 1963 Gibson 335 has been with him since 1967.

Justin Hayward's daughter, Doremi, who sings on the track "Raised on Love" on Hayward's 1977 album Songwriter, was born on 3 December 1972.

In 2013 Justin Hayward spoke of learning Transcendental Meditation in 1967, along with other members of the Moody Blues.

Justin Hayward was awarded the first of numerous awards from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for songwriting in 1974.

In 1985, the Moody Blues picked up the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music, and in 1988, Justin Hayward received the Novello, among other honours, for Composer of the Year for "I Know You're Out There Somewhere".

At the Ivor Novello Awards in London on 16 May 2013 Justin Hayward was given the PRS for Music Award for Outstanding Achievement, which was presented to him by Marty Wilde.

Justin Hayward was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to music.