Having spent nearly fifty years at the peak of the music and entertainment industries, Justin Hayward’s voice has been heard the world over. Known principally as the vocalist, lead guitarist and composer of English rock band The Moody Blues, his is a talent that helped soundtrack more than a generation and created a legacy that remains undimmed. Over the last forty-five years The Moody Blues sold fifty five million albums and received numerous awards. Commercial success has gone hand in hand with critical acclaim and the band has been honored on Sunset Boulevard’s Rock Walk Hall of Fame.
Born and brought up in Swindon in the United Kingdom, Justin Haywards’s interest in music started early when he was five years old and his grandfather bequeathed him his large collection of 78 rpm recordings. Having taught himself to play the ukulele, he soon progressed to guitar and by his early teens he was playing in local groups. Upon leaving school at 17 he answered an advertisement in Melody Maker newspaper and successfully auditioned for UK Rock and Roll hero Marty Wilde. Justin Hayward credits Marty Wilde with encouraging him to become a songwriter; they made several recordings and appearances together and remain friends to this day.
Justin Hayward joined The Moody Blues in the summer of 1966. The artist hit his stride immediately with the single “Fly Me High” and followed it up with the classic hit songs “Nights in White Satin” and “Tuesday Afternoon” from the seminal album Days of Future Past. This success showed no sign of abating as Justin Hayward created other classic, era and genre-defining hits such as “Question,” “The Voice” “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” and “Your Wildest Dreams.” These tracks laid the foundation for the incredible success story of The Moody Blues – as well as Justin Haywards’s solo work – which continues to this day.
When The Moody Blues took a break from touring in 1975, Justin Hayward worked on theBlue Jays, followed by the hit single “Blue Guitar.” Although the Moodies continued to record and tour at the highest level, he also found time to create several solo albums:Songwriter, Night Flight, Moving Mountains and The View From the Hill. Justin Hayward hit the Top Ten globally in 1978 with “Forever Autumn” – created for Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
Justin Hayward’s latest album of new songs Spirits Of The Western Sky was followed by several solo tours, and most recently a ‘live in concert’ DVD Spirits…Live, which reached No1 on the Billboard Video chart. In 2015 he toured the UK, Europe and the USA with The Moody Blues, and as a solo artist.