UK · electronic

Omar+

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The British singer and songwriter widely credited with laying the foundations of UK soul as its own thing — decades of work that never chased the American template.

Omar Christopher Lye-Fook was born in 1968 and grew up in Canterbury, Kent. He trained classically on trumpet, piano and percussion, spending two years at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester before continuing at the Guildhall School of Music in London, grounding that would later shape his approach to writing and production.

After early singles "Mr Postman" (1985) and "You and Me" (1988), the latter featuring backing vocals from Caron Wheeler, Omar released his debut album, There's Nothing Like This, in 1990 on his father's label, Kongo Records. Re-released after he signed to Talkin' Loud, it reached number 19 on the UK Albums Chart, with the title track becoming a standard of the era on re-release in 1991.

His sound draws together soul, jazz harmony, funk rhythm and elements of reggae and hip hop, built mostly around his own keyboard playing and a light, conversational voice. A second album, Music, followed in 1992, proving less successful than his debut and peaking lower on the UK Albums Chart.

Signing to RCA brought collaborations with Lamont Dozier, Leon Ware, Syreeta and Stevie Wonder, and he contributed "Water to Drink" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio in 1996. He kept releasing albums in the years after, working at various points with figures including Erykah Badu.

He was appointed MBE in 2012 for services to music, and in 2022 he appeared in EastEnders as Avery Baker, having made his stage acting debut in 2009 in the musical Been So Long. He also took part in the 2017 charity single "Bridge over Troubled Water," recorded by Artists for Grenfell.

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electronic