Andrew Roachford (born 22 January 1965) is an English singer-songwriter and the main force behind the band Roachford, who scored their first success in 1989 with the hits "Cuddly Toy" and "Family Man". He has also had a successful solo career.
He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2019 Birthday Honours for services to music.
Early life and career
Andrew Roachford was born on 22 January 1965 in London, England to parents from Barbados. A band of the same name was formed in 1987, the line-up featuring Roachford (vocals, keyboards, percussion), Chris Taylor (drums), Hawi Gondwe (guitars) and Derrick Taylor (bass guitar). By 1988, the band were touring, supporting acts such as Terence Trent D'Arby and the Christians.
Roachford released his first solo studio album, Heart of the Matter, in 2003. His next studio album Word of Mouth was released in June 2005 under the band name Roachford. In 2010, Roachford joined Mike + The Mechanics along with Tim Howar. The following year the band's seventh studio album The Road was released featuring Roachford and Howar as lead vocalists, as well as their eighth studio album Let Me Fly (2017).
Roachford collaborated with Beverley Knight on his studio album Twice In a Lifetime, which was released in September 2020. It charted at number 31 on the UK Albums Chart. This was the first Roachford album to chart in the top 40 after a 23-year absence, last charting in 1997 with Feel.
Discography
Albums
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! rowspan=2 | Title
! rowspan=2 | Album details
! colspan=8 | Peak chart positions
! rowspan=2 | Certification
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!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| UK<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| AUS<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| AUT<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| GER<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| NZ<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| SWE<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| SWI<br>
!style="width:3em;font-size:85%"| US<br>
|-
! scope="row"| Roachford
|
- Released: 9 September 1988
- Label: CBS
| style="text-align:center;"| 11
| style="text-align:center;"| —
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| style="text-align:center;"| 48
| style="text-align:center;"| —
| style="text-align:center;"| 109
|
- BPI: Gold
- BPI: Gold</small>
! style="width:45px;"| <small>GER<br></small>
! style="width:45px;"| <small>IRE<br></small>
! style="width:45px;"| <small>NED<br></small>
! style="width:45px;"| <small>NZ<br></small>
! style="width:45px;"| <small>US<br></small>
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1988
| "Family Man"
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| rowspan="6"| Roachford
|-
| "Cuddly Toy"
| style="text-align:center;"| 61
| style="text-align:center;"| 73
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| "Find Me Another Love"
| style="text-align:center;"| 100
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| rowspan="3"| 1989
| "Cuddly Toy" <small>(re-release)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| 4
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| style="text-align:center;"| 49
| style="text-align:center;"| 7
| style="text-align:center;"| 17
| style="text-align:center;"| —
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| style="text-align:center;"| 25
|-
| "Family Man" <small>(re-release)</small>
| style="text-align:center;"| 25
| style="text-align:center;"| 157
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| style="text-align:center;"| 18
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| "Kathleen"
| style="text-align:center;"| 43
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| rowspan="4"| 1991
| "Get Ready!"
| style="text-align:center;"| 22
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| style="text-align:center;"| 35
| style="text-align:center;"| 43
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| rowspan="4"| Get Ready!
|-
| "Stone City"
| style="text-align:center;"| 77
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| style="text-align:center;"| 58
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| "Innocent Eyes"
| style="text-align:center;"| 91
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| "Higher"
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| rowspan="4"| 1994
| "Only to Be with You"
| style="text-align:center;"| 21
| style="text-align:center;"| 18
| style="text-align:center;"| —
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| style="text-align:center;"| 57
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| style="text-align:center;"| 44
| style="text-align:center;"| 24
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| rowspan="5"| Permanent Shade of Blue
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| "Lay Your Love on Me"
| style="text-align:center;"| 36
| style="text-align:center;"| 26
| style="text-align:center;"| —
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| style="text-align:center;"| 55
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| style="text-align:center;"| 7
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| "This Generation"
| style="text-align:center;"| 38
| style="text-align:center;"| 53
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| style="text-align:center;"| 60
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| style="text-align:center;"| 32
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| "Cry for Me"
| style="text-align:center;"| 46
| style="text-align:center;" rowspan=2| 103
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| 1995
| "I Know You Don't Love Me"
| style="text-align:center;"| 42
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| 1997
| "The Way I Feel"
| style="text-align:center;"| 20
| style="text-align:center;"| 105
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| style="text-align:center;"| 91
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| style="text-align:center;"| 46
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| rowspan="3"| Feel
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| rowspan="3"| 1998
| "How Could I? (Insecurity)"
| style="text-align:center;"| 34
| style="text-align:center;"| 198
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| "Naked Without You"
| style="text-align:center;"| 53
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| style="text-align:center;"| 71
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| "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" (MOBO Allstars)<sup>+</sup>
| style="text-align:center;"| 47
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| rowspan="2"
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| 1999
| "Walk Away" (PF Project featuring Roachford)
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| 2000
| "From Now On"
| style="text-align:center;"| 90
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| The Roachford Files
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| 2001
| "Run Baby Run" (Bustafunk featuring Roachford)
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| style="text-align:center;"| 11
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| style="text-align:center;"| 60
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| Bustafunk <small>(Bustafunk album)</small>
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| 2003
| "The Pressure"
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| Heart of the Matter
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| 2004
| "Pop Muzak" (Mousse T. with Roachford)
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| style="text-align:center;"| 14
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| style="text-align:center;"| 19
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| style="text-align:center;"| 73
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| rowspan="3"| Word of Mouth
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| rowspan="2"| 2005
| "River of Love"
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| style="text-align:center;"| 85
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| "Tomorrow"
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| rowspan="2"| 2007
| "Ride the Storm" (Roachford & M.Y.N.C. Project)
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| rowspan="2"
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| "Ride the Storm" (Remix) <br/>(Carl Kennedy vs. M.Y.N.C Project featuring Roachford)
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| 2010
|"Survive" (Laurent Wolf featuring Andrew Roachford)
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| style="text-align:center;"| 9
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| Harmony <small>(Laurent Wolf album)</small>
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| rowspan="2" |2011
| "Wishing You Knew"
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| rowspan="2" |Addictive
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| "Complicated"
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| 2019
| "Love Remedy"
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| rowspan="2" | Twice in a Lifetime
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| 2020
| "What We Had" (featuring Beverley Knight)
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|-
| colspan="13" style="text-align:center; font-size:85%"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart.
|}
- <sup>+</sup> "Ain't No Stoppin' Us Now" by MOBO Allstars was a charity single released collectively by MOBO Award nominees in 1998, reaching No. 47 on the UK Singles Chart. The artists featured on the recording were Another Level, Beverley Knight, Mica Paris, Damage, Nine Yards, Don-E, Hinda Hicks, Celetia, Dina Carroll, Dru Hill, Shola Ama, Truce, Misty Oldland, Ultimate Kaos, Kleshay, Lynden David Hall, Kele Le Roc, East 17, Conner Reeves, Des'ree, Cleopatra, Glamma Kid, Honeyz, Kelle Bryan, Roachford, Byron Stingily, Alyson Brown, D'Influence, Michelle Gayle, Ignorants, Soundproof, Tony Dortie, David Grant and Carrie Grant.
References
External links
- Roachford official UK site