Holly Johnson

Holly Johnson in Berlin, 2014

Holly Johnson (born February 9, 1960 in Liverpool ; actually William Johnson ) is a British singer , songwriter and painter .

Life

Johnson was a member of the British punk musical group Big In Japan in the late 1970s . He was best known as the singer of the pop group Frankie Goes to Hollywood , which was successful in the charts from 1983 to 1987. Since he did not agree with the musical development, he left the group in the spring of 1987, which then dissolved.

Holly Johnson (in the center of the picture with a long black coat)

Holly Johnson and his bandmate Paul Rutherford were among the first artists in the 1980s to openly acknowledge their homosexuality. In spring 1989 he released his first solo album, which made it to number 1 in the UK charts. Well-known title from the album is the song Americanos , which made it to the top spot in Austria.

In 1991 he learned that he was HIV positive . In 1993 he made his illness public. He is one of the long-term survivors who have lived with their infection for more than 29 years. In 1994 Johnson's autobiography A Bone appeared in My Flute . Johnson began painting in the early 1980s. His artistic style is characterized, among other things, by the striking use of phallic symbols and the examination of homosexuality .

After he had mainly turned to painting for a long time and only occasionally appeared as a singer, Holly Johnson has been increasingly active in the music business again since 2011. On June 30, 2012, he was seen on a stage in Germany for the first time in a long time at the Stadtwerke-Fest Potsdam. During the one-hour concert, he played roughly equal parts solo material and pieces by Frankie Goes to Hollywood . Europa was released in 2014 , his first solo album in 15 years. Two years later, in 2016, the song Ascension , which is part of the soundtrack of the film Eddie the Eagle , was released .

In the course of his musical career he worked with Brian May from Queen , Frankie Knuckles and Apollo 440 , among others .

Holly Johnson lives with his German partner Wolfgang Kuhle, with whom he has been together since 1984, in West London.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)				Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	Remarks
1989	Blast	DE5 gold (25 weeks)DE	AT12 (4 months) AT	CH10 (15 weeks) CH	UK1 platinum (17 weeks)UK	First published: April 1989
2014	Europe	DE-DE	AT-AT	CH-CH	UK63 (1 week) UK	First published: September 2014

More albums

1989: Hollelujah (The Remix Album)
1991: Dreams That Money Can't Buy
1999: Soulstream

Singles

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes)					Remarks
year	title	DE	AT	CH	UK	US	Remarks
1989	Love Train Blast	DE4 (18 weeks) DE	AT17 (2 months) AT	CH8 (12 weeks) CH	UK4th silver (11 weeks)UK	US65 (6 weeks) US	First published: January 1989
	Americanos Blast	DE2 (21 weeks) DE	AT1 (4½ months) AT	CH4 (12 weeks) CH	UK4th silver (11 weeks)UK	-	First published: March 1989
	Ferry 'Cross the Mersey	DE22 (17 weeks) DE	-	CH12 (4 weeks) CH	UK1 (10 weeks) UK	-	First published: May 1989 with The Christians , Paul McCartney , Gerry Marsden and Stock Aitken Waterman
	Atomic City Blast	DE16 (12 weeks) DE	AT19 (½ month) AT	CH10 (7 weeks) CH	UK18 (4 weeks) UK	-	First published: June 1989
	Heaven's Here Blast	DE58 (8 weeks) DE	-	-	UK62 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: September 1989
1990	Where Has Love Gone? Dreams That Money Can't Buy	-	-	-	UK73 (1 week) UK	-	First published: November 1990
1999	The Power of Love Soulstream	-	-	-	UK56 (2 weeks) UK	-	First published: December 1999

More singles

1979: Yankee Rose
1980: Hobo Joe
1991: The People Want to Dance
1991: Across the Universe
1994: Legendary Children (All of Them Queer)
1994: Love & Hate ( Ryūichi Sakamoto feat.Holly Johnson)
1998: The First Cut Is the Deepest ...
1999: Disco Heaven
2014: In and Out of Love
2016: Ascension

Videos

The videos of the singer Holly Johnson, which he made without his group Frankie Goes to Hollywood, are always colorful and the singer occasionally allows homoerotic connotations . In these videos he often appears in a suit and tie and not infrequently with a hat or brightly colored clothing. His best known video is that for the song Love Train . There are also videos for the songs Americanos , Atomic City , Legendary Children , Love and Hate , Heavens Here , Across the Universe, Disco Heaven and In and Out of Love.

literature

A Bone in My Flute ; Holly Johnson biography, ISBN 0-09-939341-7 .

swell

↑ https://www.stern.de/lifestyle/fahrten/interview-mit-holly-johnson--relax--3837506.html
↑ Brian May on his 70th birthday: 70 secret facts about the Queen guitarist. July 18, 2017, accessed on March 10, 2019 (German).
^ Holly Johnson - Follow Your Heart. Retrieved March 10, 2019 .
↑ https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/21/holly-johnson-new-album-tour-interview
↑ ^a ^b Chart sources: Singles / Albums
↑ Gold / platinum databases: DE UK

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Johnson, Holly
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Johnson, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British singer, songwriter and painter
DATE OF BIRTH	February 9, 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH	Liverpool

[1] ttps://www.stern.de/lifestyle/fahrten/interview-mit-holly-johnson--relax--3837506.html

[2] Brian May on his 70th birthday: 70 secret facts about the Queen guitarist. July 18, 2017, accessed on March 10, 2019 (German).

[3] Holly Johnson - Follow Your Heart. Retrieved March 10, 2019 .

[4] ttps://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/sep/21/holly-johnson-new-album-tour-interview

[charts-5] Chart sources: Singles / Albums

[gold-6] Gold / platinum databases: DE UK