John Miles is a British rock singer, guitarist, and keyboardist known for his 1976 UK Top 3 hit single "Music." At the 2017 Progressive Music Awards, he received the "Outstanding Musical Achievement" award.
Miles was born John Errington on April 23, 1949, in Jarrow, County Durham, but grew up in the nearby town of Hebburn. Miles was a part of a local band called The Influence while still a student at Jarrow Grammar School, including Paul Thompson, later drummer with Roxy Music, and Vic Malcolm, later lead guitarist with Geordie. The single "I Want to Live" was published by this band (Orange Records, 1969). He then created The John Miles Set before embarking on his solo career in 1971.
In 1975, Miles got a recording contract with Decca UK and released four albums: Rebel (1976), Stranger in the City (1977), Zaragon (1978), and More Miles Per Hour (1979). On the other hand, Miles had the most success with singles, releasing eighteen throughout this period. He also hit in the UK with "Highfly" (1975), "Remember Yesterday" (1976), and "Slow Down" (1977), in addition to "Music" (1977). Bob Marshall, the bassist in his backup band, co-wrote the majority of his tunes.
Miles made multiple appearances on the weekly pop TV show Supersonic during his best years, 1976 and 1977. In the United States, the debut album was well-received. "Highfly" peaked at No. 68 on the US Billboard Hot 100 list, followed by "Music," which stopped at No. 88. In June 1977, his biggest US chart hit was "Slow Down," which reached No. 2 on the disco chart and No. 34 on the Billboard Hot 100. It was later featured in Ali MacGraw and Dean Paul Martin's 1979 film Players.
Miles has performed at the Night of the Proms, a series of concerts conducted annually in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Denmark, and the United States, virtually every year since 1985. There are also shows in Spain, France, Austria, Switzerland, and Sweden regularly. The concerts usually feature a mix of pop and popular classical music (often combined) and several well-known musicians and groups. Miles sings "Music" and other songs regularly. The Best of John Miles at the Night of the Proms was released in 2009, and it featured "Music," as well as cover versions of "All by Myself," "Bohemian Rhapsody," and "It, Was a Very Good Year."
Miles has also performed with Tina Turner since 1987, performing keyboards, guitar, and backing vocals on all of her tours and contributing to several of her albums. He also appeared on Jimmy Page's 1988 album Outrider and subsequent tour (his wide-ranging vocals allowed him to cover both Robert Plant and Paul Rodgers from Page's two previous bands) and played Hammond organ on Joe Cocker's album Night Calls (1992). Miles won second place in the UK heat of A Song for Europe in 1990 with "Where I Belong."
Miles was also a frequent guest vocalist on albums by The Alan Parsons Project, being featured on Tales of Mystery and Imagination (1976), Pyramid (1978), Stereotomy (1985), and Gaudi (1987), as well as on the Eric Woolfson album Freudiana (1990).
John Miles - Live in Concert, his first DVD, was released in 2002. In 2007, Miles performed in Gelsenkirchen, Germany, and sang two songs with the German band Pur. One of those songs, "Abenteuerland," was performed in German by Miles and Pur. Pur-Friends-Live-Schalke-2007, a DVD of the concert, is available. In October 2008, Miles began touring once again with Tina Turner until May 2009.
In the 1980s, Miles continued to record and tour. In 1983 a new radio station in the South of England, Radio Mercury, used parts from the song "Music" for their link jingles. The song itself was played frequently on the station.
