About Holly Johnson
William "Holly" Johnson is an English artist, musician, and writer, best known as the lead vocalist of Frankie Goes to Hollywood, who achieved huge commercial success in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, in the late 1970s he was a bassist for the band Big in Japan. In 1989, Johnson's debut solo album, Blast, reached number one in the UK albums chart. Two singles from the album – "Love Train" and "Americanos" – reached the top 5 of the UK Singles Chart. In the 1990s, he also embarked on writing, painting, and printmaking careers.
Johnson was born on 9 February 1960 in Liverpool, England, to Eric and Pat Johnson. His paternal grandfather Patrick was Irish and his maternal grandfather Patrick McGlouchlin was of 3/4 Indian descent. Johnson was the third of four children and was nicknamed Billy as a child. He started his education in Liverpool at St Mary's Church of England primary school and at age eleven went to the Liverpool Collegiate School in Everton. At fourteen, Johnson took on the name Holly, inspired by actress Holly Woodlawn, a friend of Andy Warhol.
During his second year at the Liverpool Collegiate, Johnson and his friend were teased and nicknamed "Jolly Johnson" and "Honey Heath". The two shared an interest in Marc Bolan and David Bowie. While he attended Liverpool Collegiate, Johnson was actively involved in that city's punk rock/new wave scene of the late 1970s. Johnson played bass with the local band Big in Japan and also released two solo singles on the Eric's label. Both "Yankee Rose" and "Hobo Joe" failed to chart, however. Johnson met his partner, Wolfgang Kuhle, in the early 1980s.
Kuhle, Johnson's personal manager, became a successful art dealer and collected paintings by Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. In 1982, Johnson joined Frankie Goes to Hollywood, and he later found fame as the lead singer and lyricist of the band. In 1987, tension grew between Johnson and the rest of his group. He also had an argument with his record company and won a case in court against them on restraint of trade. He left Frankie Goes to Hollywood and the other members of the band were eventually let go by the label after the court case ZTT and Perfect Songs v Holly Johnson.
After gaining some measure of local celebrity from being a member of Big In Japan, Johnson became involved with a group of younger musicians who together would become the nucleus of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Johnson himself named the new band after seeing the headline of an article about Frank Sinatra. This new band quickly gained a reputation for their stage show which had strong sadomasochistic overtones. It was during this period that guitarist Brian Nash and backing vocalist Paul Rutherford completed the band's established lineup.
After the band's reputation grew large enough to attract record company interest, they were eventually signed to a new record company, ZTT. Johnson became exposed to the general public via the phenomenal success of their debut single "Relax", which was a huge, and controversial, hit in 1984. The band's first three singles - "Relax" , "Two Tribes" , and "The Power of Love" all reached #1 of the UK Singles Chart; their fourth single, "Welcome to the Pleasuredome" reached #2. Frankie's debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome, released in October 1984, sold around a quarter of a million copies in its first week, peaked at #1 on the UK Albums Chart, and was a top-10 seller internationally.
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