Francis Rossi

Famous for his trademark ponytail, Francis Rossi is the lead singer and guitarist with Status Quo, one of the most enduring and successful British rock groups of all time. Born in Forest Hill, London in 1949, Rossi began his musical career at age 13, getting together with some school friends to form a freakbeat band, the Scorpions, who went on to change their name to the Spectres and Traffic Jam until settling on Status Quo when the Highlights' guitarist, Rick Parfitt, joined them in 1967. Over a career spanning six decades, the band went on to sell 118 million records worldwide, release nearly 30 studio albums, and open the Wembley leg of Live Aid in 1985, the same year that Rossi recorded his first solo single, "Modern Romance," and an unreleased album entitled Flying Debris. In 1996, he eventually released a debut LP, the country-influenced King of the Doghouse, which was both a critical and commercial flop. After receiving an OBE for services to music in 2010, he released the belated follow-up, One Step at a Time, and embarked on his first ever solo tour; a year later his performance at St. Luke's Church in London was released as a live album. Rossi also provided vocals on Graham Bonnet's Line Up, Mitchell/Coe Mysteries' Exiled, and the All This and World War II Beatles covers soundtrack. ~ Jon O'Brien, Rovi