Paul Carrack

Paul Carrack built a long and fruitful career as both vocalist and keyboardist across ensembles that included Ace, Squeeze, and Mike + the Mechanics, yet his most memorable performances frequently occurred without foregrounding his identity as a frontman. Among the many major successes on which he appeared, just one—1987’s “Don’t Shed a Tear”—was released under his own name. Even so, he kept issuing solo projects from the mid-1990s forward, each one centering his expressive voice and assured keyboard playing on either original R&B-colored pop songs or reinterpretations of rock and pop standards written by others. It Ain’t Over in 2003 offered ample opportunity to display his abilities as singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist; A Different Hat in 2010 paired the vocalist with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra for an ambitious orchestral outing; and Don’t Wait Too Long in 2023, cut with the SWR Big Band, commemorated fifty years in music by revisiting classic material from earlier decades.

Born April 22, 1951, in Sheffield, England, Carrack made his first professional recordings while still a teenager, contributing to the jazz-rock band Warm Dust. That group issued three albums before dissolving in 1972; immediately afterward, Carrack and Warm Dust bassist Terry “Tex” Comer joined the newly formed pub-rock outfit Ace. Carrack composed and sang their debut single, “How Long,” which reached the British Top 20 before climbing to number three on American charts. When later Ace releases failed to duplicate that breakthrough, the band folded in 1977, prompting Carrack to join Frankie Miller’s group.

He next appeared with Roxy Music on the albums Manifesto and Flesh and Blood, then issued his solo debut Nightbird in 1980. Carrack subsequently replaced Jools Holland in Squeeze, lending both keyboard work and lead vocals to the 1981 album East Side Story, most notably on the hit single “Tempted.” His time with Squeeze proved short-lived; after collaborations with Nick Lowe, he returned to solo work with 1982’s Suburban Voodoo, which yielded the U.S. Top 40 single “I Need You.” A stint alongside Eric Clapton followed, and in 1985 Carrack became a member of Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford’s side project Mike + the Mechanics, contributing to hits such as “Silent Running (On Dangerous Ground)” and “All I Need Is a Miracle.”

Although he remained relatively little-known in Britain, Carrack gained greater recognition in the United States through Mike + the Mechanics; his third solo album, One Good Reason, became his strongest-selling release to that point when the single “Don’t Shed a Tear” reached the Top Ten. Further work with the Mechanics produced the 1988 album The Living Years, whose title track gave the band its first number-one hit. After issuing the 1989 solo set Groove Approved, Carrack rejoined Mike + the Mechanics for 1991’s Word of Mouth, which underperformed compared with earlier efforts. By 1993 he had returned to Squeeze, appearing on Some Fantastic Place and again handling lead vocals for a new version of “Tempted.” He rejoined the Mechanics for 1995’s Beggar on a Beach of Gold; the solo Blue Views followed in 1996 and Beautiful World appeared in 1997. Satisfy My Soul arrived in 2000 as his first release for Compass Records. Throughout the first half of the 2000s Carrack toured both as a solo artist and as frontman for Mike + the Mechanics, issuing Groovin’ in 2001 and It Ain’t Over in 2003. A holiday album surfaced in 2005, followed by Old, New, Borrowed and Blue in 2007.

After the 2008 album I Know That Name, Carrack explored a new direction with 2010’s A Different Hat, recorded with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Two years later he delivered the soul-oriented Good Feeling, then collaborated again with producer Peter Van Hooke on 2013’s Rain or Shine. He performed with Eric Clapton during the guitarist’s 50th-anniversary tour in 2013 and at Clapton’s 70th-birthday concerts in 2015. By then Carrack had reunited with Van Hooke for Soul Shadows in 2016 and These Days in 2018. In 2019 he began a pair of projects with Germany’s SWR Big Band and Strings; the first, Christmas with Paul Carrack, The SWR Big Band and Strings, presented seasonal standards, while Another Side of Paul Carrack in 2020 featured interpretations of pop classics. Also in 2020 Carrack released Love Songs, a two-disc compilation of romantic material drawn from his catalog, and Live 2000-2020: The Independent Years, a collection of live recordings.

During the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown Carrack worked alone in his home studio, writing and performing all instrumental parts himself; ten of those tracks formed the 2021 album One on One. He marked fifty years in the music industry with 2023’s Don’t Wait Too Long, another collaboration with the SWR Big Band that surveyed classic songs spanning jazz, blues, gospel, country, and additional styles.