Richard Paul Ashcroft was born on 11th September, 1971 in the town of Billinge near Wigan in Lancashire. He attended Upholland Comprehensive School, with Simon Jones and Pete Salisbury.At the age of 11 Richard lost his father which had a profound effect on him. He later fell under the influence of his stepfather who had a deep spiritual faith and was a member of the ancient secular order of the Rosicrucians.Richard later became a student at Winstanley College along with Simon Jones, Pete Salisbury and Nick McCabe and in 1989 they formed The Verve.Following the second and final split of the band in April 1999, Richard embarked on a solo career with the release of the album "Alone With Everybody" in 2000. In April 2000, his first solo single, 'A Song For The Lovers', was released and hit Number 3. He played three low-key acoustic dates in Toronto, New York and Milan to premiere his new material.In June, second single 'Money To Burn' was issued followed by the highly-anticipated album 'Alone With Everybody'. The album received some mixed reviews, with certain critics feeling Ashcroft had diluted his sound too much. Nonetheless, it still went to Number 1. In August, he headlined the V2000 festivals.After European and Japanese tours, Ashcroft was scheduled to tour America but postponed the dates just 48 before he was flying out due to illness. There were further problems when midway through his UK tour in Birmingham he fell off the stage and broke two ribs and hurt his back.The final release from 'Alone With Everybody' was 'C'Mon People (We're Making It Now)' which reached number 14 in the UK. Ashcroft was disappointed with album sales in the US and announced that no further single releases would be made from the album. He finished the tour in February with three dates at London's Brixton Academy which saw Ashcroft at his very best.October 2002 saw the release of Richard's second solo album, 'Human Conditions.' The first release from the album was the superb 'Check The Meaning' which saw a wave of publicity, Richard appearing on CD:UK, Top Of The Pops and even having a complete '4Later' programme dedicated to his work. Further releases of 'Science of Silence' and 'Buy It In Bottles' failed to make the same impact on the charts and despite another triumphant UK sell-out tour Richard felt let down by the music press.A three year hiatus and the birth of his second child saw Richard return with a critic silencing album in January 2006. "Keys To The World" soared to number 2 in the album chart, held off only by the publicity storm surrounding The Artic Monkeys new album. The first single, "Break The Night With Colour" soared into the top 10 of the singles chart and some awesome live dates reaffirmed the country's love affair with one of the greatest singer-songwriters the UK has ever produced.