Adam Ant, English singer-songwriter and actor
Stuart Leslie Goddard, better known as Adam Ant (born 3 November 1954), is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten hits from 1980 to 1983, including three UK No. 1 singles. He has also worked as an actor, appearing in over two dozen films and television episodes from 1985 to 2003.
Born in Marylebone, London, Ant began his musical career playing bass in the band Bazooka Joe. From 1977 to 1982 he performed with Adam and the Ants and their debut album Dirk Wears White Sox (1979) reached number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart. Prior to recording his second album as Adam and the Ants, he asked producer Malcolm McLaren to manage his band, who instead took his backing band to form Bow Wow Wow. Ant regrouped with new members, including Marco Pirroni to release his second album Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980). It reached number one in the UK Album Chart, spawned three hit singles and the album was the UK number one selling album in 1981 (and the 48th best seller in 1980) and won Best British Album at the 1982 Brit Awards. He released his third and final album with the group, Prince Charming (1981), which spawned two UK number one singles "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming".
In 1982, he disbanded his group for a solo career retaining only Marco Pirroni as a bandmember and co-songwriter for later solo albums. His first solo album was Friend or Foe (1982), which the debut single "Goody Two Shoes" reached number one in the UK and Australia in 1982 and became his first top 20 hit in the United States. The album reached number five on the UK Albums Chart and number 16 on the US Billboard Album Chart, becoming his most successful solo album. His next two solo albums Strip (1983) and Vive Le Rock (1985) were less commercially successful in the UK and US and were a noted stylistic departure of his earlier rock albums; being more grounded in pop and dance. During this time, Ant also began to focus on an acting career performing on stage and in television and movie roles throughout the 1980s and 1990s. He released his fourth solo album Manners & Physique (1990) which was produced by André Cymone and featured a Minneapolis sound. Despite the US Top 20 success of the single "Room at the Top" from that album, Ant was dropped from MCA Records and the fully recorded Persuasion (1991) was shelved and never officially released. He signed with Capitol Records to release Wonderful (1995), which featured more acoustic songs than his previous albums. The single "Wonderful" became Ant's third US Top 40 hit single.
Since 2010, Ant has reactivated his musical career, performing live regularly in his hometown of London and beyond, recording and releasing a new album Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter (2013, UK number 25) and completing eight full-length UK national tours, five US national tours, and two Australian tours. A further album, Bravest of the Brave, was recorded in 2014 and is still awaiting release.