Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith made up the English pop-rock band, Tears For Fears who found fame in the mid-1980's most notably with the songs, "Shout" and "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". After working together for ten years, the duo ended their musical relationship with a nasty split in 1991. While Orzabal kept Tears for Fears going as a one-man project (releasing a couple of albums) and Smith made his own solo album, the men would make amends in 2000. The reunited Tears For Fears released another album together, "Everybody Loves a Happy Ending" in 2004. And while Orzabal and Smith would tour occasionally over the ensuing years, there was no new music. That has changed as Tears For Fears have released a song, "The Tipping Point" which is the working title of their upcoming seventh studio album due out in February. The sixty year old musicians have been working on this project over the last ten years and the haunting, mid-tempo ballad deals with Orzabal's struggles with grief over the tragic loss of his wife, Caroline who died in 2017 after thirty-five years of marriage.
Please enjoy this collection of videos of new music by a few LGBTQ artists (and one long-time ally):
Kelis is back with a new single, "Midnight Snacks", the latest song by the artist that follows a theme on the art of eating. Following her 2014 album, "Food", a cookbook and a Netflix series on cooking with Cannabis, the forty-two year old performer is going in on what do when you have cravings late at night. And I'm pretty sure she's referring to food. . .
And for his thirty-second studio album, Elton John has released "The Lockdown Sessions", a duets collection that was recorded largely during the pandemic lockdown after the seventy-four year old performer was forced to put the brakes on his final tour, Farewell Yellow Brick Road. This is an impressive line-up of musicians who have participated on this album; we have John's musical peers like Stevie Wonder, Stevie Nicks and the late Glen Campbell. There are contemporary performers Miley Cyrus, Rina Sawayama, Charlie Puth and Olly Alexander of Years & Years on board. And we have Young Thug, Nicki Minaj and Lil Nas X to bring some hip-hop to the record. "The Lockdown Sessions" features covers and new material with the first single, "Cold Heart", a duet with Dua Lipa and remixed by by the Australian dance music trio, Pnau who combines elements of John's singles "Rocket Man", "Sacrifice" and "Kiss the Bride" on the track.
Tears For Fears achieved great international fame in the mid-eighties with their second album, "Songs From The Big Chair" but like many musical groups who find sudden success, their partnership was strained and crushed due to the pressures and the duo broke-up after their third album, "The Seeds Of Love" in 1990.
Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith first met as teenagers in Bath, England. They performed with several bands before starting their own group, History of Headaches while later renaming themselves, Tears For Fears. After signing with Phonogram Records, they released two singles before finding chart success with "Mad World" in 1982 where it peaked at number three in the U.K. Tears For Fears released their debut album, "The Hurting" the following year where it made it to number one on the British album chart.
Their follow-up album, "Songs From The Big Chair" became a world-wide smash with the record reaching the top of the U.S. album chart for five weeks. The four hit singles, "Mothers Talk", "Head Over Heels", "Shout" and "Everybody Wants To Rule The World" contributed to the album's major success with the latter two songs reaching number one in America.
After the duo separated, Orzabal kept the band's name and released another album, "Elemental" in 1993 while Smith recorded a solo project, "Soul On Board" that same year. The Tears For Fears album found only minor success in Europe while another album, "Raoul and the Kings of Spain" (released in 1995) was even less successful.
In 2000, Orzabal and Smith worked out their differences and began recording a new album. The appropriately titled, "Everybody Loves A Happy Ending" was released in 2004 which had their first song hit the British top forty in ten years. Tears For Fears has not recorded any new music to date but they still continue to tour together with their last major tour was in 2010 with another re-grouped '80's British new-wave band, Spandau Ballet.
Have a listen to two of my favorites:
"Mothers Talk" - Tears For Fears (1984) "Head Over Heels" - Tears For Fears (1985)
