Glenn Hughes (born 21 August 1951) is an English musician, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in the hard rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice.
In addition to being an active session musician, Hughes also maintains a notable solo career. He currently fronts the supergroup Black Country Communion, and fronted California Breed from 2013 to 2015 and The Dead Daisies from 2019 to 2023. In 2016, Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple.
Early life
Hughes was born in Cannock, Staffordshire, England, on 21 August 1951. He fronted Finders Keepers in the 1960s as bassist/vocalist, as well as the British funk rock band Trapeze. Hughes was bassist and lead vocalist for the first three Trapeze albums, released between 1970 and 1972. He also credited with contributing guitar, piano and trombone to these albums.
Career
Deep Purple, Hughes and Thrall (1973-1982) Hughes was recruited to replace Roger Glover as bassist in Deep Purple in 1973, though he considered himself more a vocalist than a bassist. He was reportedly uninterested in the Deep Purple job until some of the other members proposed that Paul Rodgers of Free be brought in as co-lead vocalist.
Although the recruitment of Rodgers fell through, Hughes had now become interested in the "two-lead-singer thing", and David Coverdale was later hired as Deep Purple's lead vocalist. The two would ultimately share lead vocal duties in the band for the next three albums, until the break-up of Deep Purple in 1976. Battling a severe cocaine addiction, Hughes then embarked on a solo career, releasing his first solo album in 1977, titled Play Me Out. In 2016, Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple.
In 1982, he joined with ex-Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form Hughes/Thrall, and they released one self-titled album which went virtually unnoticed at the time. Part of the reason for the album's obscurity was the inability to support it with a proper tour, due to both parties suffering from drug addiction. As Hughes stated in a 2007 interview, "The Hughes-Thrall album was a brilliant, brilliant album, but we only did 17 shows because we were too loaded."
Gary Moore, Black Sabbath and health problems (1983-1990)
In the mid-1980s, Hughes recorded several different albums with bands and artists including Phenomena (Phenomena, Phenomena II: Dream Runner), Gary Moore (Run for Cover), and Black Sabbath (Seventh Star; originally a solo album by Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi that was released as a Sabbath album due to record label pressure).
Hughes' health problems due to overeating, drugs and alcohol began to seriously affect his musical projects and this contributed to very short stints with Gary Moore and Tony Iommi, as Hughes was unable to tour with them properly due to his poor health. In 1985 Black Sabbath reunited with original vocalist Ozzy Osbourne for their one-off Live Aid performance. While waiting for a break in Osbourne's career, Iommi decided to record a solo album and Hughes was brought in to provide the vocals. Due to the aforementioned contractual obligations with the record company, the album was credited to Black Sabbath featuring Tony Iommi and released in 1986 to generally positive critical reviews. While touring to promote the new album, Hughes was replaced by vocalist Ray Gillen after just six shows; this was due both to injury from a confrontation with Black Sabbath's production manager John Downing, which contributed to a degradation in his voice, and his not being in good enough physical shape to complete the tour.
Hughes's first bass guitar was a salmon pink, pre-CBS Fender Jazz Bass. During his tenure in Trapeze, he played a Fender Jazz Bass as well as a Rickenbacker 4001 on the Deep Purple albums Burn, Stormbringer, and Come Taste the Band. This Rickenbacker was eventually given to Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler, who subsequently used it on the Never Say Die! tour in 1978.
Health recovery and career rejuvenation (1991-2008)