1. Nicholas David Kershaw was born on 1 March 1958 and is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
32 Facts About Nik Kershaw
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Nik Kershaw came to prominence in 1984 as a solo artist.
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Nik Kershaw appeared at the multi-venue benefit concert Live Aid in 1985 and has penned a number of hits for other artists, including a UK No 1 single in 1991 for Chesney Hawkes, "The One and Only".
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Nicholas "Nik" Kershaw was born on 1 March 1958 in Bristol and grew up in Ipswich, Suffolk.
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Nik Kershaw's father was a flautist and his mother was an opera singer.
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Nik Kershaw left school in the middle of his A-Levels and obtained a job at an unemployment benefit office.
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Nik Kershaw sang in a number of underground Ipswich bands.
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Nik Kershaw was unemployed for a year after leaving Fusion, but during this time he found manager Mickey Modern after placing an advertisement in the magazine Melody Maker.
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In September 1983, Nik Kershaw released his first single "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", which reached No 47 on the UK Singles Chart.
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At the beginning of 1984, Nik Kershaw released his breakthrough song "Wouldn't It Be Good", which reached No 4 in the UK, and was a big success in Europe, particularly in Ireland, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and Scandinavia, and in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.
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Nik Kershaw enjoyed three more top 20 hits from his debut solo studio album Human Racing, including the title track and a successful re-issue of "I Won't Let the Sun Go Down on Me".
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In July 1985, Nik Kershaw was among the performers at Live Aid, held at Wembley Stadium.
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Nik Kershaw continued to record and release records and collaborated with others on a number of projects, including playing guitar on Elton John's hit single, "Nikita".
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Nik Kershaw co-wrote two songs with Banks, providing lead vocals on both.
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Nik Kershaw sang on the Banks composition "The Final Curtain".
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Nik Kershaw decided to record the tracks himself, when he could not envisage them being recorded by other artists.
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In 2005, Nik Kershaw released Then and Now, a collection of earlier material with four new tracks.
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On 13 May 2010, Nik Kershaw appeared on stage and hosted "Our Friends Acoustic" in aid of Mencap.
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Nik Kershaw wrote songs and performed for the soundtrack of the 2010 film, Round Ireland with a Fridge by Tony Hawks.
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Nik Kershaw wrote and sang the theme song, "If It Gets Much Better Than This".
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Nik Kershaw appeared as an extra in the penultimate scene, presenting a copy of the book to Hawks for signing in the book shop.
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In 2012, Nik Kershaw was featured as the lead vocalist on a new recording of "The Lamia", originally recorded by Genesis for their studio album The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, with Steve Hackett for the latter's Genesis Revisited II studio album.
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Nik Kershaw is featured as a guest performer on the same song on Hackett's Genesis Revisited: Live at Hammersmith CD and DVD, released November 2013.
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Nik Kershaw performed a solo acoustic set at Fairport's Cropredy Convention in August 2013.
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Nik Kershaw was on tour in the UK and Ireland in Autumn 2014.
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Nik Kershaw continues to perform at 1980s revival events and festivals each year.
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On 11 November 2016, Nik Kershaw performed in Reykjavik, Iceland, together with the pop rock band Todmobile.
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Nik Kershaw joined them after a short set of eight songs and played guitar on three Todmobile songs.
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In June 2020, Nik Kershaw released an extended play of six new songs, These Little Things.
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In 2024, Nik Kershaw went on a co-headlining tour with Go West in Australia and New Zealand.
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Nik Kershaw remarried in 2009 and has had a child with his second wife Sarah.
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In 2019, Nik Kershaw received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Suffolk for his services to the music industry.