Suggs

Graham McPherson (born 13 January 1961), known by his stage name Suggs, is an English singer-songwriter, musician, radio personality and actor.

Suggs came to prominence in the late 1970s as the lead singer of the ska band Madness, who had fifteen top 10 singles in the United Kingdom during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, including "My Girl", "Baggy Trousers", "Embarrassment", "It Must Be Love", "House of Fun", "Driving in My Car", "Our House", "Wings of a Dove" and "Lovestruck". Suggs began his solo career in 1995, while still a member of Madness. Since then, he has released two studio albums and two compilation albums. His solo hits include "I'm Only Sleeping", "Camden Town", "Cecilia" and "Blue Day".

Suggs has also been an actor, with roles in films, theatre and television.

Early life Graham McPherson was born on 13 January 1961 in Hastings to a Scottish father, William Rutherford McPherson (1935–1975) and Welsh mother, jazz singer Edith Gower. The couple had married in the Paddington area of London in 1960 and Suggs was raised in Hastings by his mother. His father had left by the time Suggs was three. In a 2009 interview, Suggs responded when asked about what happened to him:

I don't know, but what I've heard hasn't been good: heroin, injecting his eyeballs with paraffin, being sectioned. He must be dead now. I mean, he would have got in touch if he was alive, wouldn't he? Yeah, he must be dead, poor bugger.

Three years later in 2012, Suggs learned that his father had died in 1975.

Suggs spent three years of his childhood in his mother's hometown of Haverfordwest, Wales, and had just started at a grammar school there when his mother moved to London. He then went to the Quintin Kynaston comprehensive school at St John's Wood. On the official Madness website, he has stated:

I was born in Hastings on a stormy evening on 13 January 1961. I only lived with my mum, so we were free agents. She was a singer in the pubs and clubs. We moved to Liverpool then London. I lived with relations in Wales for a while and came back to London. Because I was an only child, I was pretty insular and stubborn. All the upheaval made me lazy academically, so by the time I got to Quintin Kynaston school in St John's Wood I didn't bother much, I stayed onto the sixth form for social security reasons, and got two O-levels and a CSE on the way. I met Mike Barson hanging around Hampstead School.

Suggs got his nickname from randomly sticking a pin in an encyclopaedia of jazz musicians (hitting Peter Suggs) while he was still in school, to avoid being labelled as a member of an ethnic minority owing to his Scottish surname. To capitalise on the name he went as far as to create a myth about it, writing lines like "Suggs is our leader" on the walls and only answering to that name.

After leaving school, he worked at a butcher's shop for eight months, his first proper job. He also worked as a painter and decorator. The first gig he went to was the Who supported by the Sensational Alex Harvey Band in 1976.

Career In 1976, Mike Barson, Chris Foreman and Lee Thompson formed the North London Invaders, which later became the band Madness. The original members recruited were John Hasler, Cathal Smyth and vocalist Dikran Tulaine. This six-piece line-up was stable until 1977, when Suggs took over the lead vocals and Tulaine left the band. After a decline in hits, the band broke up in 1986. Following the split of the band's spin-off, The Madness, Suggs has said that he felt "a bit lost" and he saw a psychotherapist on four occasions.

Solo career By the end of 1988, Suggs was without a band for the first time since he was 16. During the interim period, he explored various endeavours as well as continuing to write music. He started working with former bandmate Mike Barson on an intended duo project as early as 1989. They started writing and producing songs such as "Alcohol", "She's Gone", and "Animal", the latter of which was used in the 1990 indie film The Final Frame, which Suggs starred in.

After Madness' reformation for Madstock! in 1992 and 1994, Suggs went to work on his first solo album with the production help of reggae producers Sly and Robbie. In 1995, The Lone Ranger was released on Warner Music and peaked on the UK Albums Chart at No. 14. The first single to be released from the album was a cover of the Beatles song "I'm Only Sleeping" entering the UK Top 10 at No. 7. Its music video featured appearances from Madness bandmates Mike Barson and Chas Smash. This was followed by "Camden Town", a homage to Suggs's favourite part of London, which reached No. 14 in the UK.

In December of that year, Suggs released The Christmas E.P. featuring his song "The Tune" (written by Mike Barson) plus covers of "Sleigh Ride" and "Alright" by Supergrass. In 1996, the third single from the album, a version of the Simon & Garfunkel song "Cecilia", became his most successful release, peaking at No. 4 in the UK and being certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry. The final single to be released from the album was "No More Alcohol", charting at No. 24.

In 1997, Suggs recorded the song "Blue Day" for Chelsea F.C. with Chelsea players. It was the official song for the team for the FA Cup, which Chelsea eventually won. The song reached No. 22 in the UK charts.

In 1998, Suggs released his second solo album, The Three Pyramids Club, on Warner Music, which was produced by Steve Lironi. The first and only single to be released was "I Am" charting at No. 38 in the UK. The song was also featured on the soundtrack to The Avengers. The album includes a collaboration with reggae artist General Levy and the trombone talents of ska legend Rico Rodriguez.

After completing his solo releases, Suggs returned to work with Madness on their first original album in fourteen years. Wonderful was released in 1999 and was followed by the cover album The Dangermen Sessions Vol. 1 in 2005. In 2009, Madness released The Liberty of Norton Folgate which reached No. 5 in the UK Album Charts.

Suggs – The Platinum Collection was released on 30 July 2007 on Warner Music, featuring a selection of Suggs best tracks from his two solo albums along with "Blue Day" and a remixed version of "Cecilia".

In 2008, Suggs contributed vocals to a cover of Al Bowlly's "Hang Out the Stars in Indiana" for the soundtrack for The Edge of Love, with the film soundtrack composed by Angelo Badalamenti. Suggs also made a cameo in the film, singing the track.

In 2025, Suggs partnered with local band Men With Ven to create an anthem for their local Non League football club Whitstable Town to commemorate the team's reaching Wembley for the FA Vase final, titled "WHITSTABLE (Town FC)". The Oysters went on to win the final 2–1 against AFC Whyteleafe, with the song being played around the stadium speakers before and after the match.

Musical collaborations After the split of The Madness, Suggs served as a guest performer at some of Deaf School's reunion gigs in June 1988, performing a rendition of "My Girl". He did the same the following year for Deaf School's gig for the Big Beat '89 campaign in July 1989, which raised £750 for the Hillsborough disaster fund.

Suggs worked with Morrissey between late 1989 and early 1991, singing backing vocals on the tracks "Piccadilly Palare" and "Sing Your Life". From early 1990 to 1992, he co-managed The Farm and co-produced their first album Spartacus which reached number-one in the UK Album Charts and spawned the international hit "All Together Now". He also produced their first single "Hearts and Minds" in 1984.

Suggs has collaborated with Jools Holland twice on his Small World Big Band albums, firstly in 2001 with the song "Oranges and Lemons Again" and then with "Jack O the Green" in 2003. He also played with Holland and his Rhythm and Blues Orchestra in 2003 for a television special where they performed two songs with veteran ska singer Prince Buster.

In July 2005, shortly after the terrorist attacks in London, Suggs and Chas Smash performed the Bob Marley song "So Much Trouble in the World" with Billy Bragg at a concert in London's Brockwell Park in aid of the victims. Also in 2005, Suggs collaborated with electronic group Audio Bullys on the track "This Road" from their top 40 album Generation. In 2006, Suggs performed the Madness song "My Girl" with the Ordinary Boys at the Brixton Academy which was released as a B-side on their UK hit single "Nine2five".

In May 2008, Suggs and Chas Smash joined the Pet Shop Boys on stage at a gig in London's Heaven nightclub where they performed a dance version of the Madness song "My Girl". In 2010, Suggs and Mike Barson again worked with the Audio Bullys on their album Higher Than the Eiffel. They appear on the tracks "Twist Me Up" and "Goodbye". In 2024, Suggs appeared on the single Zombie Nation by Hastings rock band Kid Kapichi, and joined them on stage for a life performance at Kentish Town Forum in April.

Suggs co-wrote two songs with Paul Weller for Weller's 2024 album 66, "Ship of Fools" and "Nothing". Suggs also recently co-wrote and featured on rapper Skepta's single "Innocent Smile" from his forthcoming album Fork and Knife. Skepta wrote, "No better way to kick off than with Suggs (Madness) a British icon who I’ve rated all my Life. We started this song years ago as a Ska record but over the years I’ve been messing with the production, finally I added a break beat to it from Splice and the song came alive."

Film and theatre Suggs has acted in films such as The Tall Guy (1989) and Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1998). He starred in the Channel 4 drama The Final Frame (1990), in which he played a pop star named East. He also played a pop star (called Jason Wood) in the Press Gang episode "Friends Like These" in 1990. Suggs also appeared in the 2008 romantic drama The Edge of Love starring Keira Knightley and Sienna Miller, playing the part of "the crooner" (also credited as Al Bowlly) and singing Bowlly's hit "Hang Out the Stars in Indiana".

In late 2011, Suggs began a nationwide UK tour of a new one man stage show entitled "LIVESUGGS". In the show, Suggs shared various anecdotes from his childhood to the present day, intertwined with musical numbers. The show was well received by critics.

In 2003, Suggs appeared as Joe's dad in the stage musical Our House, featuring the songs of Madness, for a limited run in London's West End. The show then ran at Isis Prison, Woolwich. In November 2012, Suggs reprised his role of Joe's dad in the 10th Anniversary Concert of the musical Our House in aid of Help for Heroes.

Radio Suggs was a principal and original DJ on BBC Radio 6 Music when it launched in March 2002. He worked with Bob Monkhouse on the BBC Radio 4 musical sitcom I Think I've Got a Problem, also starring comedian Phil Cornwell and written by Andrew McGibbon.

He became a DJ on Virgin Radio with the show Virgin Party Classics, and was nominated for a Radio Academy Award in 2005. In 2006, Virgin launched the Party Classics radio channel, available via digital television. The channel was hosted by Suggs, but was short-lived, pulled just four months after it launched. The year 2007 saw him presenting a new show on the station five days a week entitled Afternoon Tea with Suggs which ran every weekday afternoon between 14:0016:00. In August 2007, the show was given an extra hour and was on every weekday 13:0016:00. It was produced by Mark Bingham.

On 3 December, Suggs quit Virgin and Neil Francis took over his weekday afternoon slot with immediate effect. On 27 September, Suggs and Madness closed down Regent Street to perform for Absolute Radio's first birthday. On 2 May 2013, he appeared on the "Cultural Exchange" feature of the BBC Radio 4 series Front Row, where he nominated a poem by John Betjeman ("On a Portrait of a Deaf Man"), as a piece of art work which he had found particularly meaningful.

Television