Richard Thompson (musician)

Richard Thompson OBE
Thompson performing in 2007
Background information
Birth name	Richard John Thompson
Born	(1949-04-03) 3 April 1949 (age 75) Notting Hill, London, England
Genres	Folk rock folk
Occupation(s)	Singer songwriter musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals guitar
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Island Elixir Hannibal Polydor Capitol Cooking Vinyl Proper Beeswing New West
Member of	Thompson
Formerly of	Fairport Convention The Bunch The GP's
Spouse(s)	Linda Thompson ​ ​ (m. 1972; div. 1982)​ Nancy Covey ​ ​ (m. 1985; div. 2019)​ [1] Zara Phillips ​ (m. 2021)​ [2]
Children	Teddy Thompson Kamila Thompson
Website	richardthompson-music.com

Richard Thompson OBE (born 3 April 1949) is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist.^[3]

Thompson first gained prominence in the late 1960s as the lead guitarist and songwriter for the folk rock group Fairport Convention, which he had co-founded in 1967. After departing the group in 1971, Thompson released his debut solo album Henry the Human Fly in 1972. The next year, he formed a duo with his wife Linda Thompson, which produced six albums, including the critically acclaimed I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight (1974) and Shoot Out the Lights (1982). After the dissolution of the duo, Thompson revived his solo career with the release of Hand of Kindness in 1983. He has released eighteen solo studio albums. Three of his albums—Rumor and Sigh (1991), You? Me? Us? (1996), and Dream Attic (2010)—have been nominated for Grammy Awards,^[4] while Still (2015) was his first UK Top Ten album. He continues to write and record new material and has frequently performed at venues throughout the world, although the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to suspend his touring.

Music critic Neil McCormick described Thompson as "a versatile virtuoso guitarist and a sharp observational singer-songwriter whose work burns with intelligence and dark emotion".^[5] His songwriting has earned him an Ivor Novello Award^[6] and, in 2006, a lifetime achievement award from BBC Radio.^[6][7] His 1991 song "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" was included in Time magazine's "All-TIME 100 Songs" list of the best English-language musical compositions released between 1923 and 2011.^[8] Thompson was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2011 New Year Honours for services to music.^[9] Many varied musicians have recorded Thompson's compositions.^[10][11]

In 2021, his book Beeswing: Losing My Way and Finding My Voice, 1967–1975 was published, mainly a memoir of his life as a musician from 1967 to 1975.