Omar Lye-Fook

Omar Christopher Lye-Fook, MBE (born 14 October 1968 in London),[1] known professionally as Omar, is a British soul singer, songwriter and musician. Omar grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He learned his craft classically, playing the trumpet, piano and percussion. He also spent two years at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester and the Guildhall School of Music in London. His most well-known song was his debut single "There's Nothing Like This".[1] It reached number 14 in the UK Singles Chart on re-release in 1991.[2] AllMusic noted that he is described by some as the father of British neo soul.[1]

Omar Lye-Fook
Birth nameOmar Lye-Fook
Born (1968-10-14) 14 October 1968
London, England
GenresSoul, neo soul
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter, musician
InstrumentsVocals, keyboards, bass guitar, drums, guitar
Years active1985–present
LabelsKongo, Talkin' Loud, RCA, Naïve, Blunt Music,[1] Freestyle Records

Career

Following his first two single releases, "Mr Postman" (1985) and "You and Me" (1988) featuring backing vocals from Caron Wheeler, Omar released his debut album, There's Nothing Like This in 1990. Initially released on his father's record label, Kongo Records, it entered the UK Albums Chart, peaking at #54.[1][2] Signing to his first major record label, Talkin' Loud, saw the re-release of his debut album, which climbed to #19 in the UK Albums Chart. This was followed in 1992 by his second album, Music, which proved less successful than the first, peaking at #37.[2]

A new signing to RCA Records led to Omar undertaking collaborations with other musicians, including Lamont Dozier, David Frank (The System), the former Heatwave bassist Derrick Bramble, Leon Ware and Stevie Wonder.[1] In 1996, Omar contributed "Water to Drink" to the AIDS benefit album, Red Hot + Rio, produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2003, after one of his songs ("There's Nothing Like This") was used in the intro round on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, presenter Mark Lamarr questioned Omar's supposed instant recognizability, quipping that he would require a Blockbuster card to confirm Omar's identity. Omar's agent, e-mailed the show and a few episodes later, Omar appeared in the show's 'identity parade' round, Blockbuster card in hand. Lamarr was forced to concede that Omar was both immediately recognizable, and a rather more significant artist than he had earlier given him credit for.[3]

In 2006, the Urban Music Awards presented Omar with the Best Neo Soul Act and Outstanding Achievement Awards.[1]

After studying at the Identity Drama School, on 11 June 2009, Omar made his acting debut in Ché Walker's musical, Been So Long.[4]

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2012 Birthday Honours for services to music.[5]

During July and August 2015, Omar appeared as part of the house band in the BBC Two comedy series The Javone Prince Show.

In June 2017, Omar was one of the "Artists for Grenfell" who performed the number one charity single "Bridge over Troubled Water", in aid of victims of the Grenfell Tower fire.

Band
  • Drummer: Darren Abraham[6]
  • Bass Guitar: Colin McNeish
  • Keyboards and Vocals: Lennox Cameron [6]
  • Guitar: Hawi Gondwe
  • Vocals : Chris Ballin

Personal life

Omar is sometimes credited as Omar Hammer. His birth father's surname is Lye-Fook, while his stepfather's surname is Hammer.[1] He and his siblings, two brothers and a sister, are all musicians. Samia Lye-Fook (Omar's sister, and youngest of the four) is a BRIT School alumna, who has provided background vocals for some of Omar's recordings.

Omar became the father of twin daughters, Gabrielle and Carmen, in early 2008.[7]

Discography

Albums
  • There's Nothing Like This (1990) - UK #19 (re-issue)
  • Music (1992) - UK #17
  • For Pleasure (1994) - UK #50
  • This Is Not a Love Song (1997) - UK #50
  • Best By Far (2001)
  • Sing (If You Want It) (2006)[2]
  • The Man (2013)
  • Love In Beats (2017)
  • Black Notes from the Deep (Courtney Pine) (2017)

Chart singles
Year Title UK Singles Chart[2] Label
1991 "There's Nothing Like This" 14 Kongo Records
1992 "Your Loss My Gain" 47 Talkin' Loud
1992 "Music" 53 Talkin' Loud
1994 "Outside" / "Saturday" 43 RCA
1994 "Keep Steppin'" 57 RCA
1997 "Say Nothin'" 29 RCA
1997 "Golden Brown" 37 RCA

Collaborations

Some of the musicians Omar has performed with include (but are not limited to):

gollark: I don't have any actual power, see.
gollark: - To ensure that no viewpoint is promoted over any other within the classroom, we will create 500 extra classes in such subjects as intelligent design, dodecahedral earth and global cooling.
gollark: That's the point.
gollark: They can vote, obviously.
gollark: - In order to preserve freedom of speech and ensure disagreeing views can be heard, I will ban/criticize anyone who agrees with me from and promote anyone who disagrees.

References
  1. Cordor, Cyril. "Biography: Omar". AllMusic. Retrieved 10 June 2010.
  2. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 406. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
  3. "Episode 11". Never Mind the Buzzcocks. Season 12. Episode 11. 17 March 2003.
  5. "No. 60173". The London Gazette (Supplement). 16 June 2012. p. 16.
  6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 13 May 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  7. "Omar: 30 Years Deep... Still The Man". The IMC Magazine. Archived from the original on 23 May 2014. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.