John Parr

John Parr

John Stephen Parr

74 songs 6 albums

John Parr (born 18 November 1952) is a Grammy-nominated English musician, best known for his 1985 US #1 single “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” and for his 1984 single “Naughty Naughty” (US Rock #1). Parr was nominated for a Grammy award for “St Elmo’s Fire” in 1985.

Parr first entered the music scene when he was 12 years old and formed a band with two fellow schoolmates, which they named The Silence. The band had achieved some success. They eventually became professional and started to tour Europe. He then joined a band named Bitter Suite who were a huge success in the working men’s clubs in Yorkshire, he then formed a “Super Band” with musicians from other working men’s club bands, and named the band Ponders End , a band that set a new precedent for the bands in the north.

Parr secured a publishing deal with Carlin America in 1983 and in the same year Meat Loaf asked him to write some songs for his new album. It led to a fateful meeting with John Wolff, who was tour manager for The Who. Foreseeing the initial demise of The Who, Wolff was looking for a new venture and considered Parr to be a suitable partner. Parr first visited America in 1984 and worked with Meat Loaf on Bad Attitude. Meanwhile, Wolff secured Parr’s solo Atlantic recording deal in New York.