Andy Bell (born Andrew Ivan Bell, 25 April 1964 in Peterborough, England) is the lead singer of the English Synthpop duo Erasure.

Career

Bell, originally working in a meat packing plant in the UK, responded to a newspaper advert that was looking for a singer. Bell, the forty-first auditionee responding to the ad, was picked by Vince Clarke and formed the group Erasure. Together Bell and Clarke have sold over twenty million albums worldwide.

Apart from his work with Erasure, he has taken part in numerous charities including the Ferry Aid version of "Let It Be" in 1987, a cover of Cole Porter's "Too Darn Hot" that was included in 1990s Red Hot + Blue album to raise funds for AIDS and HIV research, re-making Lene Lovich's "Rage" alongside her to be included in PETA's album in 1991 in favour of a wildlife campaign and performing twice on Big Spender's Red Hot and Dance events to support various AIDS projects (in December 1994 and November 2004).

Bell sang the role of Montresor in Peter Hammill's opera The Fall of the House of Usher, released in 1991 and reissued with a new recording in 1999.

On December 14, 2004, Bell announced he was HIV-positive and has known after 1998. [1] [2] [3]

July 2005 brought the announcement of Bell's first solo album. He signed a worldwide solo recording deal with Sanctuary Records and announced details of his debut album, which was released on October 3, 2005, and entitled Electric Blue. The album features fourteen tracks, including 3 duets, with Claudia Brücken of Propaganda and Jake Shears of Scissor Sisters, and encompasses a variety of musical genres.

The first single, "Crazy", released on September 26 2005, includes club remixes from Erasure-partner Vince Clarke, plus Cicada, MHC and King Roc.

Electric Blue was co-written and recorded throughout 2004 and 2005 with Manhattan Clique (Philip Larsen and Chris Smith) who have worked with Erasure, Moby, The B-52's, Stereophonics and Goldfrapp.

Discography

Albums

• 2005 Electric Blue (SANCD382) #119 UK, #12 U.S. Top Electronic Albums

Singles

• 2005 "Crazy" #35 UK, #14 U.S. Hot 100 Singles Sales, #3 U.S. Hot Dance Club Play
• 2006 "I'll Never Fall in Love Again"

External links

• Official Andy Bell site
• Official Erasure site