Alexander Armstrong

Alexander Armstrong first came to widespread notice among British audiences for his singing when his debut album appeared in 2015, though most already knew him as a comedian and television presenter. Born in Rothbury, Northumberland, in 1970, he secured a choral scholarship to Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied English and performed as a baritone in the college choir. During his final year he contributed to the writing team behind the 1992 Footlights revue, the same troupe that had earlier nurtured Peter Cook and Eric Idle. After moving to London he met Ben Miller, and the pair developed a double act that took their Armstrong and Miller show to the Edinburgh Fringe in 1996. Their BBC series ran from 1997 to 2001; once it ended, Armstrong left the partnership to concentrate on solo acting and television projects. In 2009 he teamed up with fellow Cambridge graduate Richard Osman—whose brother Mat co-founded Suede—to host the daytime quiz Pointless.

Having previously sung only at friends’ weddings or occasional choral events, Armstrong returned to music in 2013 with a short U.K. tour backed by a band. Following several television performances, among them an appearance at the VE Day 70 concert, he entered the studio to make his first album, A Year of Songs. Issued on EastWest at the close of 2015, the collection of easy-listening and jazz standards reached number six on the British album chart and topped the classical listing. Early the following year he undertook another brief British tour, then resumed recording in June. The resulting album, Upon a Different Shore, arrived that October and mixed classical and theatrical pieces with contemporary pop songs, all delivered in his classical baritone. Just twelve months later came In a Winter Light, a Christmas record that juxtaposed traditional hymns with renditions of songs associated with Nina Simone and Bing Crosby, plus two original compositions.