Glenn Martin Tilbrook (born 31 August 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is the lead singer and guitarist of the English new wave band Squeeze, a band formed in the mid-1970s who broke through in the new wave era at the decade's end. He generally writes the music for Squeeze's songs, while his writing partner, Chris Difford, writes the lyrics. In addition to his songwriting skills, Tilbrook is respected both as a singer and an accomplished guitarist.

Early career

Tilbrook was born in Woolwich, London on 31 August 1957. His father was a welder at a gasworks where the Millennium Dome now stands, who left home when Glenn was five years old. He grew up in a council house, where there was a piano in the house which he learnt to play. Tilbrook also recruited school friend Jools Holland to join the band in its early stages.

thumb|Tilbrook in 1987

In 1982 Squeeze had disbanded. During Squeeze's first hiatus, from approximately 1983 to 1985, Tilbrook wrote, recorded, and toured with Difford as Difford & Tilbrook. Their album, Difford & Tilbrook was released in 1984, and remastered and reissued in 2006. The Difford & Tilbrook album has become the "lost" Squeeze album for many fans.

Squeeze reformed in 1985; however, the partnership began to fray under the duress of Difford's struggles with addiction and questions over the band's commercial and creative direction. The fifth volume, Upon The Rocks, was released in 2016 and covered the years 1981 to 1984.

In January 2010 it was announced that Tilbrook and Difford would be spending part of the coming summer in Italy, together writing songs for a new Squeeze album. The result of this was a 4-song CD of new demo recordings which emerged during their 2012 tour of the US. The duo toured the UK and US again in 2014–15 with a program they called 'The At Odds Couple'.

As of 2026, Tilbrook still tours Squeeze with Difford, with Stephen Large (keyboards), Simon Hanson (drums), Steve Smith (percussions), Melvin Duffy (additional guitars), Owen Biddle (bass) and Danica Dora (backing vocals).

Solo career and outside Squeeze

Tilbrook contributed guitar on 1976 demos for punk band The Only Ones. On 18 June 1996, before the Euro '96 England vs. The Netherlands match at Wembley Stadium, Tilbrook appeared on ITV to sing the national anthem, "God Save the Queen".

When he is not touring with Squeeze, Tilbrook fronts his own band, Fluffers, a band he formed in 2003. They tour internationally, and consist of Tilbrook, Stephen Large (keyboards), Simon Hanson (drums) and Lucy Shaw (electric bass), who, apart from Shaw who left in 2017, are also current members of Squeeze.

thumb|200px|Tilbrook at the Picturedrome, [[Holmfirth, Yorkshire in 2007]]Along with Clem Curtis, Roy Phillips, and Linda Lewis etc., Tilbrook collaborated with Lord Large. He recorded the song, "Man Don't Stick Around Too Long", which appeared on the 2007 album, The Lord's First XI.

In 2014, Tilbrook released a mostly acoustic album titled Happy Ending, Later that year, he was featured on the compilation Songs from a Stolen Spring that paired Western musicians with artists from the Arab Spring. On the album, Tilbrook's performance of the Bob Marley and Peter Tosh song "Get Up, Stand Up" was meshed with Egyptian singer Dina El Wedidi's "Beyond These Doors".

Personal life

Tilbrook has his own recording studio, 45RPM, in Charlton. It has been used by other bands such as Nine Below Zero.

Tilbrook is a supporter of the Love Hope Strength Foundation, a cancer charity founded by Mike Peters of The Alarm, and has played concerts in aid of the organisation, including one at base camp, Mount Everest.

He was married to Pam Baker in the early and mid-1980s; the couple struggled with heroin abuse. Pam and Tilbrook divorced. He then married Jane. They had two sons. He is now married to Suzanne Hunt, who is also his manager, with whom he had another two sons. All four of his sons are musicians.

One of Tilbrook's first relationships was with Maxine "Max" Barker, who was largely responsible for urging Tilbrook to answer the Difford's music advert. Barker died of leukemia in 1992, and the following year the band released "Some Fantastic Place", written in dedication to her.

Discography

{| class="wikitable"

!Year

!Title

!Notes

|-

| rowspan="2" |2001

|The Incomplete Glenn Tilbrook

|

|-

|The Completely Acoustic

|

|-

|2004

|Transatlantic Ping Pong

|

|-

|2007

|The Past Has Been Bottled: East Side Story Demos

|

|-

|2008

|In The Sky Above: The Demo Tapes 1993-1999

|

|-

| rowspan="2" |2009

|Dreams Are Made Of This: The Demo Tapes 1974-1980

|

|-

|Pandemonium Ensues

|Recorded with The Fluffers

|-

| rowspan="2" |2011

|The Co-Operative

|Recorded with Nine Below Zero

|-

|When Daylight Appears: The Demo Tapes 1985-1991

|

|-

|2014

|Happy Ending

|

|-

|2016

|Upon The Rocks: The Demo Tapes 1981-1984

|

|}

References

Further reading

  • Official website
  • Official Squeeze website
  • Official site for Glenn Tilbrook: One for the Road
  • Music video at TopPop