Hugh Cornwell

Born in Tufnell Park in north London, Hugh Cornwell first made his name in the mid-1970s as the singer and guitarist of the Stranglers, where he remained one of the main songwriters until his departure in 1990. Earlier he had spent time in Sweden with Johnny Sox. He helped shape a tight, distinctive sound—somewhere between rock, punk rock and new wave—characterised by dry guitar lines, oblique melodies and a vocal delivery that is at once spoken and biting. Alongside his work with the Stranglers, Cornwell released Nosferatu in 1979 with Robert Williams, followed by Wolf in 1988. His solo career later became more consistent with albums such as CCW (1992), Wired (1993), Guilty (1997), Hi Fi (2000), Beyond Elysian Fields (2004), Hooverdam (2008), Totem and Taboo (2012) and Monster (2018). Depending on the period, his music blends nervy rock, dark pop, subtle psychedelia, blues touches and more acoustic formats. Often performing as a power trio on stage since the 2000s, Cornwell has also pursued writing beyond music, producing autobiographical essays and novels.