Paul Heaton

Birthday: May 9, 1962 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England, UK

Birth Name: Paul David Heaton

Paul Heaton is one of the most successful and acclaimed British pop songwriters to have emerged from the 1980s. His ability to write catchy tunes with lyrics that are both humorous and melancholic has earned him comparisons with Morrissey.He came to prominence in The Housemartins, who scored a number three hit in 1986 with "Happy Hour" and achieved a number one single with "Caravan of Love". He then went on to even greater success in The Beautiful South, who achieved a number two single with their 1989 debut, "Song For Whoever", followed by "You Keep It All In", which went to number eight. They went on to become one of the most consistent chart bands of the 1990s. They had a number one single with "A Little Time", and their other top ten singles were "Rotterdam", "Don't Marry Her" and "Perfect 10". Their albums Blue Is The Colour and Quench topped the album chart, as did the compilation Carry On Up The Charts. The band split in 2007 and had sold an estimated 15 million albums during their career.In 2014, Heaton reunited with his former Beautiful South bandmate Jacqui Abbott to release a new album, What Have We Become?.As well as his songwriting, Heaton is known for his avowed left-wing political views. He was interviewed on Sky News following the death of Margaret Thatcher in 2013. He is also not afraid to criticise other musicians; What Have We Become? includes a song, "When I Get Back to Blighty", with the lyric "Phil Collins must die". Show less «

Capitalism corrupts people and I'm unique in the sense that I feel uncorrupted and uncorruptable for...Show more »

Capitalism corrupts people and I'm unique in the sense that I feel uncorrupted and uncorruptable for the rest of my life. Show less «

My rough plan is to go somewhere cold and miserable to write lyrics, and somewhere warm to write the...Show more »

My rough plan is to go somewhere cold and miserable to write lyrics, and somewhere warm to write the music. When people say your lyrics are quite dark, well, it's simple. I go to Hull in the middle of winter to write them, and then to Gran Canaria in the summer for the tunes. Show less «

The opportunity to release slightly controversial songs comes from not selling records as well. It's...Show more »

The opportunity to release slightly controversial songs comes from not selling records as well. It's been brilliant for me and Jacqui to be able to sing "Phil Collins must die!" and for the record company not to raise an eyebrow. Show less «

I can't stop Cameron [David Cameron] liking one of my albums, but who can stop him and his mates des...Show more »

I can't stop Cameron [David Cameron] liking one of my albums, but who can stop him and his mates destroying the NHS? Show less «

I have a nice family living across the street from me called Mike and Melissa, who have five childre...Show more »

I have a nice family living across the street from me called Mike and Melissa, who have five children, and they're Christians, and they live by the book, and they run their own little church and they live modestly. But yet you look at other Christians who are very, very rarely picked up on and they are spending money willy-nilly and it's absolutely sinful. Show less «

I have actually talked to Dave Rotheray about getting our catalogue nationalised, about putting it f...Show more »

I have actually talked to Dave Rotheray about getting our catalogue nationalised, about putting it forward to David Cameron and saying, 'Nationalise this', and testing them, because it would bring money into the country, it would bring revenue into the country. I've already been paid sufficiently for my job as a pop singer and why don't they nationalise it? They wouldn't nationalise it because they refuse to nationalise things. Safe bet really. Show less «

There's more champagne Christians than there is champagne socialists. If you look at the teachings o...Show more »

There's more champagne Christians than there is champagne socialists. If you look at the teachings of Jesus Christ and the teachings of Karl Marx, they're not so far apart. And they're also suggesting to the followers of both faiths that you should live modestly. Show less «

I do believe that you should live modestly as a socialist. Without a doubt. I live in a short road, ...Show more »

I do believe that you should live modestly as a socialist. Without a doubt. I live in a short road, terraced house. No back garden, just a back yard. It's not crazy, it's part of my politics, it's part of my make-up. Show less «

It's not our system that overpays musicians, because I am overpaid. It's not our system that overpay...Show more »

It's not our system that overpays musicians, because I am overpaid. It's not our system that overpays footballers. People always blame the worker in these situations and I am the worker, I'm employed by Virgin/EMI. They blame me and they blame the footballer. It's not the footballer who's poured all the money into the game, it's capitalism. That's what's happened. Capitalism is trying to corrupt you and it's because of my understanding of capitalism that I took the step to become a co-operative, because I knew money would corrupt me. Show less «

It shows where our politics are as a nation when the Daily Mail isn't sure who to back. (Speaking in...Show more »

It shows where our politics are as a nation when the Daily Mail isn't sure who to back. (Speaking in 2010) Show less «

Well, apparently David Cameron likes London 0 Hull 4. Which part of the attack on his policies and r...Show more »

Well, apparently David Cameron likes London 0 Hull 4. Which part of the attack on his policies and rich friends did he like best??? Show less «

Paul Heaton

Paul Heaton's FILMOGRAPHY

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