Peter Beckett

Peter Beckett (born 10 August 1948) is an English musician and songwriter who has written songs for many prominent recording artists, his own bands and solo work, and for several films. He is likely 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. "All 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 they ultimately offered the job 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 joining up with JC Crowley, Ronn Moss, and John Friesen in 1976 to form Player. Player enjoyed a Number One hit in 1978 with "Baby Come Back" - written by Beckett and JC Crowley.

After recording four albums, Player split up and Beckett began writing songs for other recording artists such as Janet Jackson, Olivia Newton-John, The Temptations and Kenny Rogers and for films and television during the 1980s. In 1991, Peter released his first solo CD called Beckett, a combination of rock, pop, AOR tunes. Peter also joined up with Little River Band in 1989 and toured with them for over eight years.

Getting back together with Ronn Moss in 1995, 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 the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, which starred Moss. Beckett and Moss had a world tour in 2006 which included some dates in the United States. Beckett is also working on a second solo CD and continues to write film scores and material for other artists.

In 2013 Player released "Too Many Reasons" on Frontiers Records. Beckett and Moss joined the Sail Rock Tour 2013 with Christopher Cross, Gary Wright, Al Stewart, Orleans, Firefall, Robbie Dupree and John Ford Coley, performing all over the United States and Canada. In 2015 they joined the Rock The Yacht tour with Ambrosia, Robbie Dupree, Stephen Bishop and Little River Band. They also perform annually with The Yacht Rock Revue. Beckett is currently working on a country CD, Peter Beckett - Limey Cowboy and continues to tour with his band Player. Check the official Player website for current performance dates.

External links

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