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Jeff Lynne

File:Jeff_Lynne_1977.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons

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Jeff Lynne

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Also known as Jeffrey Lynne, Otis Wilbury

English musician (born 1947)

Person · Open Library

Works
1

Top works

  • Wembley or bust

via Open Library + Wikidata

Film & TV

Acting · Birmingham, England, UK

Jeffrey Lynne OBE (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of ELO, including "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and…

Known for

  • Jeff Lynne's ELO at the BBC — Self2025
  • The Beatles - Free As A Bird: A Song Reborn — Self2025
  • Roy Orbison at the BBC — Self (archive footage)2023
  • Now and Then - The Last Beatles Song — Self (archive footage)2023
  • Jeff Lynne's ELO - Live at VetsAid 20232023
  • Jeff Lynne's ELO - Radio 2 In Concert — Self2019
  • Jeff Lynne's ELO: Wembley or Bust — Himself2017
  • Electric Light Orchestra - Rockpalast 19742017
  • The Terry Kath Experience — Self2016
  • Electric Light Orchestra Live At BBC Radio Theatre — Himself2015

via TMDB

Listeners · Last.fm

Listeners
99,957
Total plays
972,251

Tags

rockclassic rocksinger-songwriterSymphonic RockProgressive rock

Jeff Lynne (born December 30, 1947) in Birmingham, UK, is a British singer-songwriter and record producer. He was the co-founder (with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan), guitarist, and lead singer of The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) in the 1970s and 1980s, as well as a co-founder of the Traveling Wilburys (with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison) in the late 1980s. Prior to The Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne was a member of Idle Race and, along with Wood and Bevan, The Move. <a href

via Last.fm · Jeff Lynne

Quotes

  • I like the natural sound of a room. All the rooms have their own sound, so it's a matter of putting it where you like and seeing what it sounds like.
  • At the end of the day I have to please myself. And I've made a record to please myself.
  • Midnight on the water I saw the ocean's daughter Walking on a wave's chicane Staring as she called my name And I can't get it out of my head No, I can't get it out of my head Now my old world is gone for dead 'Cos I can't get it out of my head
  • It's a livin' thing. It's a terrible thing to lose. It's a given thing. What a terrible thing to lose.
  • My Shangri-la has gone away, Faded like the Beatles on Hey Jude She seemed to drift out on the rain That came in somewhere softly from the blue.
  • It was one of those nights One of those nights When you feel the world stop turning You were standing there There was music in the air I should have been away But I knew I had to stay

via Wikiquote · CC BY-SA

Key facts

Born
Jeffrey Lynne , ( 1947-12-30 ) 30 December 1947 (age 78) , Birmingham , Warwickshire , England
Genres
Rock pop
Occupations
Musician singer-songwriter record producer
Instruments
Vocals guitar bass keyboards drums
Years active
1963–present
Labels
United Artists Jet Harvest Epic Sony BMG Reprise Frontiers
Member of
Electric Light Orchestra
Formerly of
The Move the Idle Race Traveling Wilburys
Spouses
Rosemary Adams ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1972 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1977 ) ​ Sandi Kapelson ​ ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. 1979 ; divorced</span>"}]]}'>div. 1991 ) ​ Camelia Kath ​ ( married</span>"}]]}'>m. September 2017</span>"}]]}'>2017 ) ​
Website
jefflynne .com

via Wikipedia infobox

Works in European collections

1 object attributed to Jeff Lynne, held across European museums, libraries & archives · via Europeana

~25 min read

Encyclopedic overview

Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is the co-founder and only consistent member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. He has written all of the band's music since 1972, including hits such as "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight". He also has had a solo career, with two albums: Armchair Theatre (1990) and Long Wave (2012).

Born in Birmingham, Lynne became interested in music during his youth and was heavily inspired by the Beatles. He began his music career in 1963 as a member of the Andicaps, then left the group the next year to join the Chads. From 1966 to 1970, he was a founding member and principal songwriter of the Idle Race. In 1970, he accepted Roy Wood's offer to join the Move and was a major contributor to the band's last two albums. Later that year, Lynne, Wood and Bev Bevan formed the band ELO as a side project to which they intended to devote most of their energies, out of their desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. Following Wood's departure from ELO in 1972, Lynne assumed sole leadership of the band and wrote, arranged and produced virtually all of its subsequent records. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album Out of the Blue (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of the British chart: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science fiction–themed concept album Time (1981). In 1986, Lynne disbanded the group after losing interest in it, though he subsequently revived it from 2000 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2025. Lynne produced all fifteen ELO singles that rose to the Top 10 record charts in the UK.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Jeff Lynne” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Gallery (7)