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Gilbert O'Sullivan music biography continued...

1, 1946, Waterford, County Waterford, Ireland, O'Sullivan moved with his family to England when he was 14. After graduating college, he went to work in a London department store; one of his co-workers was under contract with CBS, and soon O'Sullivan was signed to the label as well. After two unsuccessful singles with CBS, "What Can I Do?" and "Mr. Moody's Garden", and one with the Irish record label, Major Minor, O'Sullivan sent some demo tapes to Gordon Mills, the manager of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, whereupon O'Sullivan was signed to Mills' label, MAM Records. At the end of 1970, O'Sullivan achieved his first UK Top 10 hit with "Nothing Rhymed", which also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands. Subsequent hits including "Underneath the Blanket Go" which also reached No. 1 in the Netherlands, "We Will" and "No Matter How I Try" followed, and in 1971 O'Sullivan issued his debut album, Himself. His big breakthrough would come the following year with the self-penned ballad "Alone Again (Naturally)", which reached No. 3 in UK and No. 1 in the U.S., spending six weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart and selling nearly two million copies. O'Sullivan followed up with the hits "Claire" (1972), "Out of the Question" and
"Get Down" (1973). All in all, he had a five year run up the charts on the MAM label scoring seven UK Top 10 singles and four UK Top 10 albums and three U.S. Top 10 singles and one top 10 album. He also charted in Japan, Canada and New Zealand, making him a true international star.



After being bogged down by a lawsuit with MAM, O'Sullivan returned to the studio with the single, "What's In A Kiss?", which reached No. 19 in the UK and No. 21 in Japan in 1980. Apart from a minor hit single in 1990 and a compilation album in 1991, O'Sullivan was absent from the charts until another compilation album, The Berry Vest of Gilbert O'Sullivan, returned him to the UK Top 20 in 2004. O'Sullivan has continued to record and perform into the 21st century, turning new fans onto compositions that will remain classics forever.