Fish

Derek William Dick, better known by his stage name Fish, entered the world on April 25, 1958, in Edinburgh, Scotland, and served as the commanding frontman of the prog-rock outfit Marillion before launching his own solo path in 1988. The band itself began life as a purely instrumental unit in 1979, assembled by guitarist Steve Rothery (born November 25, 1959, in Brampton, England), drummer Mick Pointer, bassist Doug Irvine, and keyboardist Brian Jelliman. Irvine took on vocal duties for the first demo recordings in 1980, yet the following year the group recruited Fish as lead singer; he stepped into that role fully with the 1983 release of their opening album, Script for a Jester's Tear. Reviewers frequently noted the strong Peter Gabriel influence in his delivery and accused Marillion of leaning too heavily on Genesis for inspiration, yet the group pressed on to complete six additional studio efforts. Creative tensions between Fish and his bandmates ultimately prompted his departure after the 1988 live collection Thieving Magpie (La Gazza Ladra). Steve Hogarth (born May 14, 1956, in Kendal, England) stepped in as replacement, bringing a vocal approach and stage presence closely akin to Fish’s own.

In 1989 Fish lent his voice to Peter Hammill’s Fall of the House of Usher production before Andy Bell assumed the part. One year afterward came Fish’s first solo outing, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, which preserved the grand, theatrical atmosphere that had marked Marillion’s conceptual works. Following the 1991 release Internal Exile and the 1993 covers collection Songs from the Mirror, he left EMI for Dick Bros. The Acoustic Session appeared in 1994, and in 1995 he issued the paired albums Yin and Yang. Sunsets on Empire arrived in 1997, succeeded two years later by the warmly received Raingods With Zippos on Chocolate Frog Records. Entering the 2000s, Fish kept issuing material on the same Chocolate Frog imprint, among them 2002’s Fellini Days, the 2003 live double set Sashimi captured in Poland, and 2004’s Field of Crows. He returned with 13th Star in 2007 and mounted a North American tour the next year.