John Payne (singer)
| John Payne | |
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John Payne, 2011
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| Background information | |
| Born | 29 September 1958 |
| Genres | Hard rock, progressive rock, pop rock |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, producer |
| Instruments | Vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards |
| Years active | 1980–present |
| Labels | Devgel, InsideOut Music, Sony Music |
| Associated acts | Asia Featuring John Payne, Asia, GPS |
John Payne (born 29 September 1958) is a British musician, best known as the lead singer and bassist of Asia from 1992 to 2006 and, from June 2007, with Asia Featuring John Payne.
John Payne became the frontman of Asia in 1992 at the invitation of founding member Geoff Downes, replacing vocalist/bassist John Wetton. During Payne's tenure, ASIA released 8 studio albums, several live albums and toured internationally. He is a founding and current member of modern progressive rock band GPS. He is also a guitarist, composer, recording engineer and record producer. He until recently was part of the Las Vegas production "Raiding the Rock Vault" at the Las Vegas Hotel.
His first band were called Moonstone. They toured the UK in the late seventies, opening for well-known groups such as Argent.
In 1986, he recorded a silver selling record with the band CCCP in Scandinavia. CCCP was a group that featured John on lead vocals with Johnny Cash's stepdaughter Carlene Carter sharing vocal duties.
He provided backing vocals on several solo albums by Roger Daltrey, including Under a Raging Moon (1985) and Can't Wait to See the Movie (1987).
Back in England, he and keyboardist Andy Nye (from the Michael Schenker Group) formed The Passion, enlisting the services of drummer Clive Burr (Iron Maiden), bassist Mel Gabbitas and the ex-Mike Oldfield guitarist Ant Glynne.
Payne was considered for a position in ELO Part II on guitar and vocals. For a year prior to joining Asia in 1991, he was chosen to replace Jeff Lynne as the lead vocalist in ELO, later to be named ELO Part II, but left because of protracted negotiations over the name.
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