Holly Johnson
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 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 | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | |||
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 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
DE | AT | CH | UK | US | |||
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
- Official Homepage (English)
- Holly Johnson at MusicBrainz (English)
- Holly Johnson at Allmusic (English)
- Holly Johnson at Discogs (English)
- Singles Discography on 45cat.com
- Discography on rateyourmusic.com
- Charts and data on chartsurfer.de
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 |