Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1947, in Liverpool) is a English musician and songwriter who has recorded written songs for many prominent recording artists and for several films, as well as produced solo work. He is best known as the lead singer and guitarist for 1970s soft rock group Player, which scored a U.S. #1 hit in 1977 with "Baby Come Back".

Beckett was born in the Aigburth district of Liverpool, England. He was greatly influenced by seeing the Beatles perform at the famous Cavern Club At 16, he recorded his first record, "All Night Stand", with a band called The Thoughts. "One Night Stand" was written by Ray Davies from The Kinks. He then joined a band called Winston G and The Wicked, later renamed Whip. After they disbanded, Beckett auditioned for Badfinger on the heels of "Come and Get It", and was on Peter Ham's and Tommy Evans' short list, but the job was offered to Joey Molland instead. Beckett then joined a progressive rock band called Paladin, recording two albums called Paladin and Paladin Charge!.

Moving to Los Angeles, California in 1974 he joined Skyband before hooking up with JC Crowley, Ronn Moss, and John Friesen to form Player. Player enjoyed a Number One hit in 1978 with "Baby Come Back" - voted most annoying record of 1978 by SpinIn magazine's yearly reader's poll.

After four successful albums, Player split up, and Beckett began writing songs for other recording artists such as Olivia Newton-John, The Temptations and Kenny Rogers as well as music for films and television throughout the 1980s. In 1991, Peter released his first solo CD called Beckett, a combination of rock, pop, AOR tunes. He then joined up with Little River Band and toured with them for eight years.

Getting back together with Ronn Moss in 1996, they recorded Player's fifth album, Lost in Reality and toured the United States. Since then, Peter has produced, written and played on two solo CDs for Ronn Moss and composed music for a television show: The Bold And The Beautiful. Beckett and Ronn Moss had a world tour in 2006 as well as some dates in the United States. Beckett is also working on a second solo CD and continues to write film scores as well as material for other artists.

[edit] External links

• Official Peter Beckett/Player Website
• allmusic's Biography of Peter Beckett
• Official Player Website

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