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Alison Moyet
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard (née Moyet; /ˈmɔɪ.eɪ/ MOY-ay; born 18 June 1961), formerly known as Alf, is an English singer. Noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice, she came to prominence as a member of the synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
By June 2023, her worldwide album sales had reached a certified 23 million, with over two million singles sold. All of Moyet's ten studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the top 30 of the UK Albums Chart, with two of them reaching number one, and she has had several top-10 hits on the UK singles chart.
Geneviève Alison Jane Moyet was born on 18 June 1961 in Basildon, Essex, to a French father and English mother. She did not grow up bilingual, but spoke "Franglais", and was called Alison from a young age.
She grew up in Basildon, where she attended Janet Duke Junior School and then Nicholas Comprehensive at secondary level, where she was in the same sixth form class as future Depeche Mode members Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore.
She was involved in a number of punk rock, pub rock, and blues bands in the southeast Essex area during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the Vandals, the Screamin' Ab Dabs, the Vicars, and the Little Roosters. After leaving school at age 16, Moyet worked as a shop assistant and trained as a piano tuner.
At the age of 20, Moyet's mainstream pop career began in 1982 with the formation of the synth-pop duo Yazoo with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. In the United States, the band operated under the name Yaz, due to trademark issues with the Yazoo Records record label already operating in the region. Yazoo had several hits, including "Only You", "Don't Go", "Situation" and "Nobody's Diary", and recorded two albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both.
In 1983, Clarke decided to disband Yazoo. While Clarke went on to form The Assembly (another duo, this time with Eric Radcliffe) and then Erasure (a duo again, with Andy Bell), Moyet signed to CBS, and began her solo career. In 1984, Moyet released her debut solo album Alf (titled after her punk-era nickname). Alf was produced by the record producing and songwriting team of Jolley & Swain. The album was co-written by the duo and Moyet, with the exception of "Invisible", which was written for Moyet by Lamont Dozier. The record was a hit in Britain, reaching No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart. Alf spawned three international hit singles, Love Resurrection (UK No. 10), Invisible (UK No. 21) and All Cried Out (UK No. 8). In some European territories, a fourth single, For You Only, was also released. In the US, "Invisible" was a Top 40 hit; Moyet has stated in several interviews over the years that she can no longer relate to the song and will no longer perform it live.
In 1985, Moyet performed at Live Aid alongside Paul Young and later returned unscheduled to the stage (alongside Bob Geldof, David Bowie and Pete Townshend) to provide vocals on "Let It Be" when Paul McCartney's vocal microphone at his piano failed, leaving him unable to be heard for the first stanza of the song. (Twenty years later, he overdubbed his vocal for the Live Aid DVD release.) Moyet also released a single not featured on Alf, a cover of the standard "That Ole Devil Called Love", which climbed to No. 2 on the UK singles chart (it remains Moyet's highest-charting UK single).
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Alison Moyet
Geneviève Alison Jane Ballard (née Moyet; /ˈmɔɪ.eɪ/ MOY-ay; born 18 June 1961), formerly known as Alf, is an English singer. Noted for her powerful bluesy contralto voice, she came to prominence as a member of the synth-pop duo Yazoo (known as Yaz in North America), but has since mainly worked as a solo artist.
By June 2023, her worldwide album sales had reached a certified 23 million, with over two million singles sold. All of Moyet's ten studio albums and three compilation albums have charted in the top 30 of the UK Albums Chart, with two of them reaching number one, and she has had several top-10 hits on the UK singles chart.
Geneviève Alison Jane Moyet was born on 18 June 1961 in Basildon, Essex, to a French father and English mother. She did not grow up bilingual, but spoke "Franglais", and was called Alison from a young age.
She grew up in Basildon, where she attended Janet Duke Junior School and then Nicholas Comprehensive at secondary level, where she was in the same sixth form class as future Depeche Mode members Andrew Fletcher and Martin Gore.
She was involved in a number of punk rock, pub rock, and blues bands in the southeast Essex area during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including the Vandals, the Screamin' Ab Dabs, the Vicars, and the Little Roosters. After leaving school at age 16, Moyet worked as a shop assistant and trained as a piano tuner.
At the age of 20, Moyet's mainstream pop career began in 1982 with the formation of the synth-pop duo Yazoo with former Depeche Mode member Vince Clarke. In the United States, the band operated under the name Yaz, due to trademark issues with the Yazoo Records record label already operating in the region. Yazoo had several hits, including "Only You", "Don't Go", "Situation" and "Nobody's Diary", and recorded two albums, Upstairs at Eric's and You and Me Both.
In 1983, Clarke decided to disband Yazoo. While Clarke went on to form The Assembly (another duo, this time with Eric Radcliffe) and then Erasure (a duo again, with Andy Bell), Moyet signed to CBS, and began her solo career. In 1984, Moyet released her debut solo album Alf (titled after her punk-era nickname). Alf was produced by the record producing and songwriting team of Jolley & Swain. The album was co-written by the duo and Moyet, with the exception of "Invisible", which was written for Moyet by Lamont Dozier. The record was a hit in Britain, reaching No. 1 in the UK Albums Chart. Alf spawned three international hit singles, Love Resurrection (UK No. 10), Invisible (UK No. 21) and All Cried Out (UK No. 8). In some European territories, a fourth single, For You Only, was also released. In the US, "Invisible" was a Top 40 hit; Moyet has stated in several interviews over the years that she can no longer relate to the song and will no longer perform it live.
In 1985, Moyet performed at Live Aid alongside Paul Young and later returned unscheduled to the stage (alongside Bob Geldof, David Bowie and Pete Townshend) to provide vocals on "Let It Be" when Paul McCartney's vocal microphone at his piano failed, leaving him unable to be heard for the first stanza of the song. (Twenty years later, he overdubbed his vocal for the Live Aid DVD release.) Moyet also released a single not featured on Alf, a cover of the standard "That Ole Devil Called Love", which climbed to No. 2 on the UK singles chart (it remains Moyet's highest-charting UK single).
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