Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1990 and served as the sole songwriter, lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime.The band started as a jam-based band; however, McCabe has clarified that Ashcroft was the one who created the lyrics. In 2000, Ashcroft embarked on a solo career, releasing six UK top-three solo albums, including Alone with Everybody, Keys to the World and These People.
Ashcroft's songwriting has been commended by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors twice with an Ivor Novello Award. The Verve's Urban Hymns is one of the UK's best-selling albums of all time. Ashcroft's work has influenced artists such as Oasis, Coldplay, and the Britpop and indie rock genres. Noel Gallagher of Oasis described Ashcroft as a "genius", and Chris Martin of Coldplay called him "the best singer in the world".
On 10 October 2025, Ashcroft released his seventh studio album, Lovin' You.
Early life Ashcroft was born at Billinge Hospital in Wigan, Lancashire. The eldest child of Frank Ashcroft, an office worker, and Louise (née Baxter), a hairdresser. He has two younger sisters. In his early childhood, he was reportedly very shy and had to be replaced in a school nativity play due to stage fright.
The sudden death of his father from a brain hemorrhage in 1982, when Ashcroft was just 11, became a traumatic turning point in his life. Ashcroft suffered a profound depression, and did not know how to deal with it, saying he "swallowed" the tragedy and even attended school the next day. He put up a front of the "class clown" at his school, due to which, a teacher at his school started calling him the "cancer of the class". He used music as a primary coping mechanism, recalling a profound sense of existential questioning that set him apart from his peers.
An accomplished athlete in his youth, Ashcroft harboured serious ambitions of becoming a professional footballer. He was a talented junior player for Wigan Athletic and was also associated with Rotherham United.
Ashcroft decided he wanted to be a musician during a camping trip when he was 13, as he watched the Jean-Luc Godard documentary 1+1, which showcased the Rolling Stones in the process of making a song, namely "Sympathy for the Devil". He recalls immediately thinking "That's the way to spend your life."
During his teens, he recalls living through a musical cultural shift was happening as his friends frequented Wigan Pier, which hosted alternative musicians and DJs. Among these were The Stone Roses, who further inspired Ashcroft to make music, alongside The Smiths and the Happy Mondays.
Ashcroft attended Up Holland High School alongside future bandmates Simon Jones, Peter Salisbury, and Simon Tong. In 1987, he enrolled at Winstanley College to study Theatre Studies, Philosophy and Religion. He attended from 1987 to 1989. His tutors described him as "incredibly intelligent", and was perceived as a detached student who prioritised his burgeoning musical ambitions over academic achievement. It was at Winstanley where he recruited Nick McCabe, completing the core line-up of what would become The Verve.
The Verve
Formation and psychedelic origins (1990–1993) Ashcroft formed the band in Wigan in 1990 alongside Simon Jones and Peter Salisbury, initially performing under the name Verve. After hearing Nick McCabe playing guitar from behind a closed cubicle, Ashcroft waited outside to invite the unknown musician to join his project based solely on his "ethereal" sound.
In August 1990, the band debuted at a friend's 18th birthday party at the Honeysuckle Pub on Pool Street, Wigan.
The band's debut album, A Storm in Heaven (1993), was characterized by its avant-garde, shoegaze-influenced textures. Recorded at Sawmills Studios, the sessions were largely improvisational; Ashcroft would edit usable fragments from sprawling jams to structure them into cohesive songs. Reflecting on this period, Ashcroft admitted the group was frequently under the influence of LSD during the recording process, which contributed to the album's expansive, psychedelic atmosphere. It was during this early era that the press bestowed upon him the mercurial sobriquet "Mad Richard" due to his intense and unpredictable stage presence.
Creative friction and A Northern Soul (1995) By 1995, Ashcroft's songwriting evolved towards a more structured, literary style, moving away from pure abstraction. This shift culminated in the band's second album, A Northern Soul. A definitive turning point was the track "History", which Ashcroft composed in a single 3 AM session inspired by the poetry of William Blake. Sonically, the song marked a departure from their earlier sound, featuring orchestral arrangements by Wil Malone and unconventional studio contributions, such as handclaps by Liam Gallagher.
However, the intense recording sessions at Loco Studios exacerbated creative differences between Ashcroft and McCabe. The latter's discomfort with the new "lyric-first" direction, coupled with the band's volatile mental health, led to an initial split in 1995 shortly after the album's release.
Global stardom and Urban Hymns (1997–1999) Following a brief period where Ashcroft intended to pursue a solo career, he reconciled with McCabe in 1997. The band—now including Simon Tong—reformed to release Urban Hymns, which propelled them to international superstardom. Ashcroft became the "face of British rock", winning an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting.
The lead single, "Bitter Sweet Symphony", reached number 12 on the US charts and became a cultural phenomenon. Despite its success, the song became the subject of a high-profile legal dispute with ABKCO Records over a sample from a Rolling Stones orchestral cover; Ashcroft was stripped of his royalties and songwriting credits for over two decades until the rights were voluntarily returned to him in 2019. The band swept the 1998 BRIT Awards, winning Best British Group and Best British Album, before splitting again in April 1999 amidst internal exhaustion.The Brit Awards: The Verve Brit Awards. Retrieved 13 March 2026
Reunions and final split (2007–2009) The Verve reunited for a third time in 2007, headlining major festivals and releasing the album Forth (2008), which debuted at number one in the UK. However, the reunion was short-lived; in August 2009, the band announced their final dissolution due to renewed tensions and McCabe's struggles with alcohol, which had made further collaboration untenable.
Solo career Alone with Everybody and Human Conditions: 2000–2004 Ashcroft's first solo single, "A Song for the Lovers", peaked at No. 3 in the UK chart in April 2000. It was followed by the single "Money to Burn", which reached the UK Top 20 at No. 17. The album Alone with Everybody was released in June, reaching number 1 and receiving platinum status in the UK. Album reviews were generally positive. In September, a third single was released, "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)", entering the charts at No. 21. Richard does not publish his song lyrics in the inlay cards of his albums or singles, as he feels they are personal to him.
Ashcroft began work on his second album, Human Conditions, in 2002. The lead single, "Check the Meaning", was released in early October, and peaked at No. 11 on the UK Singles Chart. The album was released later that month and reached No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart. Reception to the album was generally positive. Review aggregating website Metacritic reports a normalised score of 61% based on 15 reviews. In response to negative reaction to the album, Coldplay's Chris Martin – a fan of both Ashcroft and the Verve – defended the album's merits which "made an impression" on Ashcroft. The appreciation shown would later result in a support slot for Ashcroft, serving as the opening act for Coldplay during a European tour. The album's second single, "Science of Silence", was released the following January and charted at No. 14 in the UK. On 26 March, Ashcroft made his first live appearance of 2003 at London's Royal Albert Hall as part of the third annual Teenage Cancer Trust charity fundraising event, before "Buy It in Bottles", the third and final single to be taken from the album, was released on 7 April, charting at No. 26.
Aside from a limited number of appearances in 2003, Ashcroft was absent from the music business for about two years. He later explained this in 2006, stating that "[e]veryone got it into their heads over the last few years that I was in my ivory tower like Lennon, baking bread all day. The fact of the matter was that I was bringing up kids".
Live 8 and Keys to the World: 2005–2007 Ashcroft began playing shows again in mid-2005, and, on 2 July at the Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, Coldplay invited him to perform with them. They performed the Verve's hit "Bitter Sweet Symphony", after having rehearsed the song in Crystal Palace. Chris Martin introduced Ashcroft's performance of the song as "probably the best song ever written, and here's the best singer in the world", helping to renew interest in Ashcroft. At Christmas 2005, a documentary titled Live 8: A Bitter Sweet Symphony was aired on the BBC, featuring a portion of Ashcroft's performance as the show's opening soundtrack.
After the disintegration of Hut Records in 2004, Ashcroft signed to Parlophone, where he released his third solo album, Keys to the World, on 23 January 2006. The first single from the album, "Break the Night with Colour", was released on 9 January 2006, and entered the UK Singles Chart at number 3. Following his performance at Live 8, Ashcroft was booked as a support act for Coldplay's Twisted Logic Tour throughout North America and the UK, which started on 14 March in Ottawa, Canada. Ashcroft saw the support slot as "a good chance to play to a significant amount of people and say, 'I’m back. And this is what I do'".
The album's second single, "Music Is Power", charted at number 20. On 18 April 2006, he recorded the Live from London EP, the ninth in a series of EPs released exclusively as digital downloads from Apple's iTunes Store. The EP was released six days later on 24 April. With the release of Keys to the World, the general consensus was that Ashcroft was "back at the top of his musical game". He announced his largest UK tour for years for May 2006, culminating in three nights at London's Brixton Academy. Following the tour, Ashcroft had hoped to perform two "Homecoming" shows at Wigan Athletic's 25,000-seater JJB Stadium in June 2006, but was unable to do so as the proposed venue lacked the "appropriate licence". As a consequence, he played at Lancashire County Cricket Club in Old Trafford, in his biggest solo show up to then. He was supported by acts such as Razorlight and the Feeling, while DJ Shadow joined Ashcroft on stage to perform "Lonely Soul", their UNKLE collaboration from 1998's Psyence Fiction LP. Another UK tour followed five months later, culminating in a show at Manchester's M.E.N. Arena on 30 November. Ashcroft did not tour Keys to the World outside Europe.
Ashcroft hinted at the possible release of a new version of "C'mon People (We're Making It Now)" for the Bobby Moore Cancer Fund, which would coincide with England's participation in the 2006 Football World Cup, but the single never materialised. Instead, his next release was "Words Just Get in the Way", which charted at No. 40 in the UK Singles Chart. On 4 December, the double a-side "Why Not Nothing" / "Sweet Brother Malcolm" was released on limited edition 7" vinyl.
RPA & the United Nations of Sound, These People, Natural Rebel: 2008–2018
Ashcroft played a solo show on 25 August 2008 as part of the Last Days of Summer Festival in Buckingham. The Verve broke up for a third time sometime between the last rehearsals in late 2008 and the summer of 2009.