Albert Hammond

Who is Albert Hammond?

Albert Louis Hammond was born on 18 May 1944 in London, after his Gibraltarian family had been evacuated during the Second World War; they returned to Gibraltar shortly afterward and he grew up there, becoming fluent in both English and Spanish and singing as head choir boy in church. In 1960 he began performing with the Gibraltarian band the Diamond Boys, who helped introduce pop and rock music to nearby Spain. As a solo artist his single "It Never Rains in Southern California" reached number five on the US Billboard chart in 1972. He went on to become one of pop music's most successful songwriters, co-writing hits including "The Air That I Breathe" for the Hollies, "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" for Starship, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before" for Julio Iglesias and Willie Nelson, and "One Moment in Time" for Whitney Houston, which won him an Emmy Award in 1988. He was appointed OBE in 2000 and inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His son, Albert Hammond Jr., is the guitarist of the rock band the Strokes.

Sources: Wikipedia, "Albert Hammond" · Songwriters Hall of Fame, artist profile "Albert Hammond" · alberthammond.com, official biography