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Stuart best known as Big
Country front man has
had an illustrious career in music. He now enters a new era.
As co-founder member with Richard
Jobson of seminal new wavers
the Skids in
1978, Stuart first tasted success with songs such as "Into
The Valley", "Masquerade", "Charade" and "Working
for the Yankee Dollar".
Next in 1982,Big Country was formed
after the demise of the Skids.
The band broke massively worldwide
with their debut album The
Crossing (1983), which sold
over 3 million copies and earned Big Country 2 Grammy nominations.
Their subsequent four albums, were all certified gold on release
and took the bands total record sales tally to over ten million.
Big Country played at the Wembley
Live Aid and The
Princes Trust 10th Birthday Party and
in 1988 they played the first ever privately promoted gig in
Russia at the Moscow Sports Stadium. At the end of the decade
Through A Big Country, featuring all the bands classic hits
was released and while it charted Top 5 nationwide and sold
over two million copies
Twice in the 90s they were invited
to open for the Rolling
Stones and played 18 shows
with them in Europe. In 1999 Stuart wrote some of his best songs
for the album Driving To Damascus.Two songs were co-written
with Ray
Davies, who became firm
friends with the band after they joined him on the main stage
(sans Bruce) at Glastonbury in 1997 to perform a storming set
in the rain.
Big Country, who have scored 17
top 30 singles and seven top 30 albums (five of them Top 3).
In 1996 Stuart travelled to Nashville
with manager Ian
Grant to seek new writing
inspiration. Stuart had always been influenced by traditional
country music and was keen to explore Nashville and the abundance
of writers based there and its current day music generally.
They met most major players at the big record companies and
his new music was met favourably but the advice was consistent
from all he met. "You gotta come here and come here and write
with as many other songwriters as possible". He did. With many
writers. One of the songwriters suggested by Paul
Worley from Sony was
a Marcus Hummon. Paul was fascinated by the potential of celtic,folk
and country influence coming together. His vision was spot on
because Marcus and Stuart hit it off immediately (creating the
music Paul had imagined) and apart from writing and performing
together, became good friends. Out of this friendship came THE
RAPHAELS.
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