Alistair Griffin

Alistair Richard Griffin (born 1 November 1977) is an English singer-songwriter and musician.

In 2001, as vocalist with the pop/rock band Sugartown, he performed in front of 70,000 people at the Leeds Party in the Park.

The following year, he and his occasional songwriting partner, Stuart Hanna (now part of folk duo Megson) formed the band Pulse, and co-wrote the song "Fade Away" (having recorded the song on an 8-track in Hanna's bedroom) and entered it for the 2002 Song for Europe competition on BBC Radio 2.

The song was shortlisted, and a performance by Pulse was broadcast, but it failed to reach the finals.

Griffin was briefly a member of the boyband Ultra and spent some time working in Germany with DJ Sammy.

It was widely reported that he auditioned for the boyband Blue, only narrowly failing to make it to the final line-up, but Griffin later dismissed this as a fabrication by the press.

Although signed by music publisher Trevor Horn's company, Perfect Songs, he was unable to get a solo recording contract and in 2002, he applied to become a contestant on the first series of Fame Academy.

Griffin reached the final audition stage of Fame Academy 1 on his first attempt in 2002, but was not chosen to appear on the show.

He re-applied for a place on Fame Academy 2 the following year and was voted through by the public with the highest vote of the preliminary round.

The vocal coaches criticized both his voice and image, calling them "unoriginal", "unidentifiable" and "boybandish"; however, guest judge Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees said Griffin had a "unique talent" as a vocalist and songwriter, an "ideal recording voice" with "an engaging vocal tone".

His technically accomplished live performances and proven songwriting ability gradually gained him the support of the public.

As the final approached, he was dubbed the "dark horse" of the show by BBC Three presenter Claudia Winkleman, and eventually finished in second place.

The final showdown between Griffin and eventual winner Alex Parks was screened live and generated so many angry messages from viewers after Daniel Bedingfield, who duetted with both finalists, made his feelings clear by urging viewers that they should "just vote for Alex".

This outburst by Bedingfield led to claims of favouritism.

The BBC was forced to close down the Points of View message boards as negative messages just flooded in the board.

Bedingfield made a public apology to Griffin for his behaviour and outburst.

The actual voting figures have never been publicly released.

Griffin said about Fame Academy:"It helped open some doors that would otherwise have been closed to me, but equally closed quite a few which may have something to do with why it has taken me so long to come back from it all. Fame Academy was a bizarre, surreal and wonderful experience. I think it's fair to say it was a bit of a double-edged sword in terms of how it shaped my future musically. It was a good experience and taught me a great deal about the music industry while also giving me the exposure I needed and was desperately failing to obtain going it alone for all the years previously."

Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show Fame Academy 2 in 2003, where he was mentored by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

He subsequently had two top twenty hit singles and a top twenty album in the UK.

Alistair Griffin was born in Middlesbrough, England.

He started singing and writing songs whilst still a student at York St. John College (now York St. John University), playing guitar and busking on the streets of York with a small band.

His wide musical influences range from classic rock and Britpop, to English and American folk music.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English literature and following a brief stint working as a milkman around his home town, he moved to London to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

During 2004, Griffin performed live at over 50 gigs up and down the UK and appeared on numerous television programmes, including Top of the Pops and Liquid News.

In March of that year, he also competed in the European 'WorldBest' competition in Cannes, singing live with Phil Collins.

The live performances of his own material that he gave throughout that year, singing acoustically and with the backing of a regular 5-piece band, Riccardi, showed a marked difference from the generic 'pop' approach of his record company.

After parting from UMTV, he abandoned his record company's 'pop style' backing tracks and his former 'boyband' image.

In the autumn, he supported Robin Gibb on his 'Magnet' tour of Germany, opening each concert with an acoustic set of his own songs, playing guitar and accompanied on keyboards by long-time friend and fellow musician, Simon Waggott (Waggo), as well as joining Gibb on stage to duet on "My Lover's Prayer".

On his return, he released an independent recording of his live performances in Germany, which he showcased at a series of concerts in the North of England.

During 2005, Griffin continued to perform live, both solo and with Riccardi, but split with them later that year.

He moved back to York and although there were rumours of a new recording deal, nothing materialized.

In November, he assembled a new backing band and performed his first London gig for over a year at The Bedford, where he showcased several new compositions.

In April 2006, Griffin announced that he would shortly be forming a new band, and that he would no longer be pursuing a solo career, but rather be concentrating on working and writing with his new band, that he called Albion.

For some time, he performed solo only at charity events and small local venues.

The initial lineup proved unsuccessful, with James and Tom Martin leaving a few months later to form another indie band, The Station Club.

At the end of 2006, Griffin (guitar and vocals) and Walter Laybourne (drums), were joined by Paul Banks (ex Shed Seven) (guitars and keyboard) and Paul 'Foda' Fothergill (bass).

At the beginning of 2007, Griffin set up his own recording studio called Oakwood near York.

Despite writing and recording many songs together and releasing several free download tracks, Albion split up abruptly in August 2007 for reasons which were not made public.

When interviewed, Griffin commented "Things weren’t working out the way we anticipated and it seemed the right time to call it a day".