Today, December 30 marks the 73rd birthday of a rock legend; Jeff Lynne born in Shard End, Birmingham, England in 1947—the multi-talented mastermind producer, frontman, and founder of Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) one of classic rock’s all-time greatest bands; marrying orchestral sounds mixed with rock and roll. The band has emerged and changed band personnel over the years, and now it’s known as Jeff Lynne’s ELO. This is the current version of the band that has toured the world until COVID-19 drove live bands to a screeching halt.
ELO’s History
Jeff started the early days of ELO with the short-lived experimental band called The Idle Race in 1969 followed by The Move formed with Roy Wood of the early ensemble Wizard. Their name soon changed to Electric Light Orchestra and their first album was simply entitled, No Answer.”The single from that album was the classic, “10538 Overture.”
Their mega-hits off their later albums soon followed such as “Turn To Stone“ and “Mr. Blue Sky“ from the concept album, Out of the Blue (the album with the ‘colorful’ spaceship on the cover) A New World Record featuring their hit “Do Ya,” “Strange Magic,” the ‘dreamy’ soft ballad “One Summer Dream” and their ‘spooky’ upbeat song, “Fire On High” from their album, Face The Music. Their album “Discovery“ features the wide radio airplay hit from 1979 “Don’t Bring Me Down,” etc.
Jeff’s Solo Career and Beyond
Jeff earned a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, was knighted by Queen Elizabeth at her 2020 Birthday Honors Celebration, and was bestowed with the title, OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) is an exclusive member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017, another engraved star in his hometown of Birmingham on The Walk of Stars, and has received various British music awards. He was a member of The Traveling Wilburys under the pseudonym Otis/Clayton Wilbury. He served as a producer for the group and for the late Tom Petty’s albums, the late George Harrison, and many others besides producing his own material. His solo albums include Armchair Theatre and Long Wave. His revised version of the band is Jeff Lynne’s ELO. Their last album was 2019’s From Out of Nowhere and 2015’s Alone in the Universe.
Check out this YouTube video here:
Why ELO remains one of my all-time favorite classic rock bands
Their music has become the soundtrack of our lives. Jeff is a musical genius. I have been a fan of ELO since I was in high school. Had a crush on Jeff back then too! Once I had the opportunity to talk to him from a payphone way back in the 1980s during a break. Dream come true for me! My famous sister, Patti Rothberg who is also a musician, loves him and is a huge fan! She hopes to work with him on an album one day. So Jeff— if you’re viewing this article, please get in touch with her!
Happy Birthday, Jeff Lynne. Keep on rockin’!
To hear my tribute to Jeff Lynne, listen to my podcast on Spotify.