Chris Thompson
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- This article is about the English singer. For the American Olympic swimmer, see Chris Thompson (swimmer). For the American football player, see Chris Thompson (football player). For the Canadian musician, see Christopher Thompson.
Chris Thompson (born 19 March 1957) is an English singer known both for his work with Manfred Mann's Earth Band and for his solo accomplishments.
Thompson was born in the United Kingdom but raised in New Zealand. In 1973 he returned to England to pursue a music career, joining Manfred Mann's Earth Band in the following year.
In 1978 he featured in Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds, where he sang the lyrics for the song "Thunder Child". After several years with Manfred Mann's Earth Band, Thompson left in 1979 and formed the Los Angeles band Night, which enjoyed two hits during its lifetime. After the band broke up in 1982, he rejoined the Earth Band.
In 1981, Thompson released his debut album, Out Of The Night. This was followed by five more albums, most recently Won't Lie Down (2001).
In 1986 Thompson sang vocals on a solo Steve Hackett (ex-Genesis) album. The album featured performances by such artists as Steve Howe (Yes), Brian May (Queen), Pete Trewavas (Marillion), Ian Mosley (also from Marillion), and Bonnie Tyler. However, the album, entitled Feedback 86, was not released until 2002.
In 2006 he joined Jeff Wayne for a second time to tour as The Voice of Humanity in the live version of The War of the Worlds.
Thompson has been featured on several albums by artists such as Alan Parsons, Jan Hammer, Steve Hackett, Bonnie Tyler, Mike Oldfield, and Sarah Brightman, as well as providing back up vocals for the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, and later for Brian May of Queen, during his first few solo concerts, in South America in 1992.
