16 Facts About Mark Hollis

Mark David Hollis was an English musician and singer-songwriter.

Mark Hollis achieved commercial success and critical acclaim in the 1980s and 1990s as the co-founder, lead singer and principal songwriter of the band Talk Talk.

Mark Hollis was born on 4 January 1955 in Tottenham, London.

Mark Hollis had two brothers, one elder and one younger.

Little is known about his early life as Mark Hollis was a reluctant interviewee throughout his career.

Mark Hollis's family moved from London to Rayleigh, Essex in 1962 and Hollis started at Rayleigh's Sweyne Grammar School in 1966.

Mark Hollis left Sweyne after completing his O-levels in 1971 and dropped out of college without completing his blaming the "complete lack of rules" there.

Mark Hollis worked at what he later described as a "succession of horrible jobs" whilst he began to write songs.

Mark Hollis was best known for being the lead singer and primary songwriter of the band Talk Talk between 1981 and 1991.

Mark Hollis was praised for his "always remarkable voice" and, along with Talk Talk's producer Tim Friese-Greene, took the lead in evolving the band's style from New Romantic into the more experimental and contemplative style that later became known as post-rock.

In 2004, Mark Hollis resurfaced briefly to receive a Broadcast Music Inc Award for having written "It's My Life".

In 2012, a piece of specially commissioned music by Mark Hollis titled "ARB Section 1", was used in the television series Boss.

Mark Hollis performed the solo track "Piano" on the 1998 minimalist album AV 1, by Phill Brown and Dave Allinson, under the pseudonym John Cope.

Mark Hollis played piano on and co-wrote the track "Chaos" on the 1998 trip hop album Psyence Fiction by Unkle, later asking for his name to be removed from the album credits.

From 1998 until 2017, Mark Hollis lived in Wimbledon, London with his wife Flick and their two sons, before moving to Heathfield, East Sussex where he lived until his death.

Mark Hollis' desire to spend more time with his family was a major reason that Talk Talk stopped touring after 1986, and his reason for retiring from the music industry in 1998.