Gary Hughes

Gary Hughes
Gary Hughes in 2011
Background information
Birth name	Gary Hughes
Born	(1964-07-05) 5 July 1964
Origin	Manchester, England
Genres	Hard rock
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, musician
Instruments	guitars, electric bass, piano, keyboards, programming
Years active	1989 – present
Labels	Frontiers Records Rocktopia Records Now and Then Avalon Mercury
Associated acts	Ten, Bob Catley, Magnum, Ayreon, Vinny Burns, Serpentine
Website	TEN Official Website

Gary Hughes (born 5 July 1964 in Manchester, England) is an English hard rock singer, songwriter and musician. Apart from his work as a solo artist, Gary Hughes is the front man and main songwriter of Hard Rock/Melodic Rock band Ten. He has also worked as a producer and songwriter on Bob Catley's first three solo albums and more recently on Serpentine's third studio album Circle Of Knives. He has also produced Hugo's first album and has appeared on Vinny Burns' The Journey solo album and on the Ayreonauts Only album by the band Ayreon.

Biography

Gary Hughes started playing guitar when he was 9 years old and claimed as a schoolboy at Sale Boys' Grammar School to have composed Stairway to Heaven.

His musical career started in 1989 when Hughes released his first album, Big Bad Wolf (renamed and re-released with extra tracks in 1992 as Strength of Heart) through the Polygram Oslo label in Germany and Norway.

In 1992, Hughes signed with the then newly formed Now & Then Records and his forthcoming self titled album was the first one released on that label.^[1]

In 1995, Hughes and former Dare members Vinny Burns on guitar and Greg Morgan on drums begun working on what were to be his 3rd and 4th solo albums. The sessions lead to the formation of the melodic Hard Rock band Ten.^[2] He attended Sale Boy's Grammar School

Between The Robe and Spellbound albums, Gary Hughes released his third solo album named Precious Ones. Precious Ones met with critical acclaim especially in Japan. In 2002 he undertook his most ambitious project yet; the two-album wide Rock Opera named "Once And Future King" that was based on King Arthur's myths and legends. The albums were released six months apart from each other and featured the vocals of Bob Catley, Lana Lane, Doogie White, Danny Vaughn, Sean Harris and others.

Gary Hughes wrote and produced Bob Catley's first three solo albums, as well as Hugo's first solo release. Though he has been leading a band for over a decade, he continues to release solo albums as well as working as a songwriter, producer and musician for other artists. His latest release was the 2007 solo album named Veritas which saw a return to his AOR/Melodic Rock roots, following the Once And Future King project.

In September 2012 Gary Hughes announced on his personal Facebook page that he will be producing and co-writing the new studio album of the band Serpentine.^[3] The follow-up album to the highly acclaimed Albion, Isla De Muerta, was released on 20 May via Rocktopia Records, with the band's first EP in 16 years entitled The Dragon And Saint George, following on 4 September. On March 2016, it was announced that his band Ten had signed a new contract with Frontiers, for a multi-album deal, starting with the release of Gothica, Ten's 13th studio album in July 2017 and the reissue of the band's back catalogue under the name "Opera Omnia".^[4]

In May 2018, he started working on the 14th studio album of Ten entitled Illuminati, which will be released in November of the same year, through Frontiers Records. Among the other projects that he's currently involved in, Gary Hughes has also been working on a new Rock Opera project, in the vein of 2003's Once And Future King albums.

Discography

References

External links

• Ten Official Website