Lesley Duncan

Among England’s foremost session singers, Lesley Duncan contributed vocals to tracks by Elton John, the Dave Clark Five, Pink Floyd, the Alan Parsons Project, Michael Chapman, and Joyce Everson, as well as to the soundtrack for Jesus Christ Superstar. Her compositions later appeared in recordings by Elton John, Olivia Newton-John, and Long John Baldry.

Although the 1963 single “I Want a Steady,” issued under the name Lesley Duncan & the Jokers, failed to attract buyers, she achieved wider notice in 1969 when Elton John placed her composition “Love Song” on Tumbleweed Connection. The track’s reception secured her a contract with CBS/Columbia. Her first full-length release, the self-titled album produced by her husband and keyboardist Jimmy Horowitz, featured “Sing Children Sing” with John at the piano. The two artists resumed their partnership for her 1976 album Moonbathing, which presented a live duet rendition of “Love Song.”

Despite favorable notices from the British press for her singing and writing, Duncan never established a substantial solo career. After MCA terminated her contract in 1976 owing to disappointing sales, she recorded singles with producer Tony Cox through 1986. Her final recorded album vocals surfaced in 1979 on “If I Could Change Your Mind” from the Alan Parsons Project’s Eve and in 1980 on “Hold on to Love” from Exiled by the Bob Mitchell/Steve Coe Mysteries. In the early 2000s her early LPs Sing Children Sing and Earth Mother appeared on compact disc. In her final years she performed regularly alongside Jimmy Horowitz on keyboards and Chris Spedding on guitar. Duncan died of cerebrovascular disease at age 66 on 12 March 2010 on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.