1. Richard Paul Ashcroft was born on 11 September 1971 and is an English musician, singer, and songwriter.
44 Facts About Richard Ashcroft
1. 2.
Richard Ashcroft formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1989 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime.
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In 1998, Ashcroft was awarded the Ivor Novello award for Songwriter of the Year.
4.
In May 2019, Richard Ashcroft received a second Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors.
5.
Richard Ashcroft released the compilation of acoustic versions of his best hits, Acoustic Hymns Vol.
6.
Richard Ashcroft is the eldest child of office worker Frank and hairdresser Louise Richard Ashcroft ; he has two younger sisters.
7.
Richard Ashcroft was adamant about recording songs from the radio, an alternative to the five album music collection his mother could afford.
8.
The first record Richard Ashcroft bought was "Just Like Starting Over", and following the event of John Lennon's death in 1980, he played the song "Imagine" on a loop.
9.
In 1982, when Richard Ashcroft was 11, his father died suddenly of a brain haemorrhage.
10.
Richard Ashcroft attended Up Holland High School in West Lancashire, along with future bandmates Simon Jones, Peter Salisbury and Simon Tong.
11.
Richard Ashcroft then enrolled in Theatre Studies, English Literature, and Philosophy and Religion at Winstanley College; his teacher remembers him as "incredibly intelligent" but being too dedicated to music to care about his grades.
12.
Richard Ashcroft was an avid football player; he is listed in the 1998 Playfair Football Who's Who as having been on the books of Rotherham United playing junior football for Wigan Athletic.
13.
For some time, Richard Ashcroft wanted to be a professional football player, idolising George Best, but as he grew older he lost interest in this, turning to music instead.
14.
Richard Ashcroft formed the Verve in 1990 with Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury.
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Richard Ashcroft has said that the band was under the influence of LSD when they recorded the album.
16.
The band signed to Hut Records during which time Ashcroft gained the sobriquet "Mad Richard".
17.
The band split in 1995, and around this time Richard Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album.
18.
Richard Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in England".
19.
In early 2007, Richard Ashcroft made peace with McCabe and Jones and the Verve's reunion was announced in June.
20.
Richard Ashcroft began work on his second album Human Conditions in 2002.
21.
The appreciation shown would later result in a support slot for Richard Ashcroft, serving as the opening act for Coldplay during a European tour.
22.
On 26 March, Richard Ashcroft made his first live appearance of 2003 at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the third annual Teenage Cancer Trust charity fundraising event, before "Buy It in Bottles", the third and final single to be taken from the album, was released on 7 April, charting at No 26.
23.
Richard Ashcroft began playing gigs again in mid-2005, and, on 2 July at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited him to perform with them during their set.
24.
Richard Ashcroft was supported at the gig by acts such as Razorlight and the Feeling, while DJ Shadow joined Richard on stage during his set to perform "Lonely Soul", their UNKLE collaboration from 1998's Psyence Fiction LP.
25.
Richard Ashcroft did not tour Keys to the World outside of Europe.
26.
Richard Ashcroft hinted at the possible release of a new version of his previous single "C'mon People " for the Bobby Moore Cancer Fund, which would coincide with England's participation in the 2006 Football World Cup, but the single never materialised.
27.
Richard Ashcroft played a solo gig on 25 August 2008 as part of the Last Days of Summer Festival in Buckingham.
28.
At that time, Richard Ashcroft was contractually obligated to record another album for Parlophone.
29.
In December 2009, Richard Ashcroft contributed the lead soundtrack song for the documentary The Journey.
30.
The new sound seems to emulate many of Richard Ashcroft's influences described over the years in interviews and seems to close a circle for his solo career.
31.
On 15 October 2010, Richard Ashcroft released through his website a second fanclub-only track, "Here We Go Again".
32.
In January 2018, it was confirmed that in June 2018, Richard Ashcroft would be supporting Liam Gallagher at his two concerts in Malahide Castle and Gardens in Dublin and Belsonic at Ormeau Park in Belfast.
33.
Richard Ashcroft is married to Kate Radley, a former keyboardist of Spiritualized.
34.
Richard Ashcroft is a Manchester United fan, and regularly attends matches.
35.
Richard Ashcroft is good friends with the band Oasis's Noel and Liam Gallagher and Coldplay's Chris Martin.
36.
Richard Ashcroft provided backing vocals on the Oasis song "All Around the World" in 1997, for Oasis' Be Here Now.
37.
In July 2021, Richard Ashcroft pulled out of the headline slot at Sheffield's Tramlines Festival after it became part of the UK government's pilot events programme.
38.
Richard Ashcroft is well known for using string instrumentation in his songs.
39.
Richard Ashcroft considers it part of his "palette" and draws inspiration from such composers as Ennio Morricone, John Barry, and John Williams.
40.
Richard Ashcroft recalls in his teens he used to watch an "unauthorised" video of the band on a loop.
41.
Richard Ashcroft has expressed a high regard for George Harrison's work within the Beatles and solo work, as well as praise for his moral ideals and distaste for the fake nature of the music industry.
42.
Richard Ashcroft has listed The Smiths as a major influence in his teens, listing the album Hatful of Hollow and the song 'How Soon is Now' as having a profound impact on him.
43.
Richard Ashcroft holds a deep interest for Cinema; when he was thirteen years of age, he was shown the Jean-Luc Godard film "1+1", which showed the Rolling Stones creating a song.
44.
On 23 May 2019, Ashcroft announced that Jagger and Richards had signed over the rights to him, giving him sole writing credit and all subsequent royalties.