Tony Hadley

For a decade, suave Tony Hadley was the voice and image of Spandau Ballet, guiding the one-time New Romantic act to global success, crooning a string of smash hits like “To Cut a Long Story Short, “True,” “Gold,” and “Through the Barricades.” Born on June 2, 1960 in Islington, Hadley had won a small singing competition in 1974 with his rendition of Gary Puckett’s “Young Girl.” In July of 1979, he joined forces with guitarist Gary Kemp and sax player Steve Norman, who were putting together a band that was soon christened Spandau Ballet. The group would become a regular on the U.K. charts and, although their success in the States would be limited, they did manage to score with the mammoth hit “True,” which hit number four in late 1983 after topping charts world-wide. By the late ’80s, the hitmaking run was ending and group members were pursuing other interests. In 1991, hip-hop duo P.M. Dawn revived “True,” sampling the song for their smash “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss,” with Hadley making an appearance in the video. By this time, Hadley had signed a deal with EMI and released his solo debut, The State of Play, the following year. A trio of minor singles from the album charted in the U.K. — “Lost in Your Love” would be the most successful (although it failed to crack the Top 40). Five years later, Hadley returned to the charts with Tin Tin Out’s hit “Dance with Me.” He also released his second solo outing that year — a self-titled album comprised mostly of covers, including versions of Duran Duran’s “Save a Prayer,” Bryan Ferry’s “Slave to Love,” and Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’.” Although it would fail to restore his commercial clout, Hadley continued to perform live at European festivals and release records. ~ Tom Demalon