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Justin Hayward (born David Justin Hayward, on 14 October 1946, in Swindon, England) is a British musician, best known as a singer,
guitarist and composer in the rock band, The Moody Blues.
In 1965, Hayward worked with Marty Wilde and his wife, Joyce, in The Wilde Three. Striking out on his own a short while later, while still
only 16, he signed a publishing contract with the skiffle artist and record producer, Lonnie Donegan (a move that Hayward later regretted
as it meant that the rights to all his songs written before 1974 would always be owned by Donegan's Tyler Music)
.
Hayward joined the Moody Blues in 1966, replacing the departing vocalist/guitarist, Denny Laine. Bassist John Lodge replaced Clint Warwick
at the same time.
Hayward's integration into the Moody Blues - along with Lodge - sparked greater commercial success and recognition for the band, transforming
them into one of the biggest selling acts of all-time. Their album sales from 1978 to date (2006) are in excess of 60 million. Their 1967 to
1978 sales were contested in court with the record company claiming a sales figure of 30 million but lawyers and accountants employed by Decca
at the time all testified that a more accurate but still conservative estimate for the bands' album sales between 1967 and 1978 would be between
80 and 100 million. The record company claimed that the paper trail to back-up these figures had since been "lost" by the record company and
hence the band are credited with and were only paid royalties for 30 million sales.
The 1967 album Days of Future Passed, one of the first and most influential symphonic rock albums, spawned the Hayward-penned singles 'Tuesday
Afternoon' and the classic, "Nights in White Satin" that went on to sell in excess of 2 million copies. Hayward also wrote the band's UK number
two hit, "Question", as well as most of the group's other singles including "Driftwood", "The Voice", "Blue World", "Your Wildest Dreams" and
"I Know You're Out There Somewhere".
In 1974, the group decided to take what ended up being a 4-year break from performing and recording. Hayward found international solo success
in 1978, appearing on the Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds concept album, which yielded his hits "Forever Autumn"
and "The Eve of the War".
Hayward has also co-written songs with other members of the band during their career, most prolifically with the band's bassist/vocalist, John
Lodge. Together, they had a hit in 1975 with "Blue Guitar" and the same year, released an album entitled Blue Jays.
During the 1980s, Hayward composed and performed for film and television, including the theme song "It Won't Be Easy" for the 1987 BBC2 science
fiction series Star Cops, "Something Evil, Something Dangerous" for the film The Howling IV, "Eternal Woman" for She and
music for The Shoe People
In 1989, with producer-arranger Mike Batt, Hayward released Classic Blue - an album of standards written by other composers, set to
orchestration and arranged by Batt. His most recent solo album, 'The View From The Hill', was released in 1996 and a live recording, 'Live in
San Juan Capistrano' followed in 1998.
Hayward was awarded the first of numerous ASCAP awards for songwriting in 1974. In 1985, the Moody Blues picked up the Ivor Novello Award for
Outstanding Contribution to Music, followed in 1988 by Hayward receiving the Ivor Novello Award, among other honours, for Composer of the Year
(for "I Know You're Out There Somewhere"). In 2004, Hayward was awarded the "Gold Badge" for lifetime achievement by the British Academy of
Songwriters, Composers and Authors to add to the "Golden Note" for lifetime achievement that he was awarded in 2000 by the American Society of
Songwriters, Composers and Publishers (one of only a handful of British artists to have received this award, the previous before Hayward being
Elton John in 1991).
In a recent BBC World Service interview, Hayward and John Lodge made it clear they have no plans to stop working and regarded it as "a privilege"
to still be working in the music business.
The Moody Blues will tour the UK again in late 2006. In April 2006, Hayward took part in the stage tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The
War of the Worlds.
He has lived in Monte Carlo since 1996 and until recently with Marie, his wife of the previous 35 years. They have one daughter, Doremi Celeste,
born in 1972.
Discography
- Songwriter (1977)
- Night Flight (1980)
- Moving Mountains (1985)
- Classic Blue (1994)
- View From The Hill (1996)
- Justin Hayward Live in San Juan Capistrano (1998)
- Justin Hayward and Friends Sing The Moody Blues Classic Hits (2003)
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It uses material from the Wikipedia article - Justin Hayward
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