Kevin Rowland (born 17 August 1953) is a British singer and musician best known as the frontman for the pop band Dexys Midnight Runners (known as Dexys from 2003 to 2026). The band had several hits in the early 1980s, the most notable being "Geno" and "Come On Eileen", both of which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart.
Early life
Rowland was born in Wednesfield, Staffordshire (now West Midlands), on 17 August 1953 to Irish parents from Crossmolina, County Mayo, Ireland, and he lived for three years in Ireland from the age of one year old before returning to Wolverhampton. The family moved to Harrow when he was 11 and he left school aged 15.
Before his music career, Rowland worked as a hairdresser.
Career
Rowland's first group, Lucy & the Lovers, were influenced by Roxy Music and turned out to be short-lived. His next project, the punk rock act the Killjoys, were slightly more successful, releasing the single "Johnny Won't Get To Heaven" in 1977.
Alienated by the punk scene, Rowland, together with Killjoys guitarist Kevin Archer, formed a new soul-influenced group, Dexys Midnight Runners. Many of the group's songs were inspired by Rowland's Irish ancestry and were recognisable through Rowland's idiosyncratic vocal style. On forming the band Rowland thought it was "important to have a vocal style", he later recalled, "and I had the idea of putting that 'crying' voice on", partly inspired by General Johnson of Chairmen of the Board. The band had several hit singles, such as "Come On Eileen" (1982).
At the end of the 1980s, Rowland wanted to explore different songwriting, and Dexys Midnight Runners began recording more "introspective, mournful" music. The new material was unsuccessful; Dexys Midnight Runners were dropped by their label and disbanded.
In mid-2020 Rowland released a new video for the song "Rag Doll", a promo which features his grandson Roo. In September 2020, My Beauty was re-released by Cherry Red Records and finally became a UK chart hit in October, peaking at number 73 in the albums chart.
Discography
Studio albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Year
! Album details
|-
| 1988
| align="left"| The Wanderer
- Release date: 1988
- Label: Mercury Records
|-
| 1999
| align="left"| My Beauty
- Release date: 21 September 1999
- Label: Creation Records
|-
|}
Singles
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Single
! colspan="1"| Peak positions
! rowspan="2"| Album
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="50"| UK<br>
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1988
| align="left"| "Walk Away"
| 95
| align="left" rowspan="3"| The Wanderer
|-
| align="left"| "Tonight"
| 81
|-
| align="left"| "Young Man"
| 102
|-
| 1999
| align="left"| "Concrete and Clay"
| —
| align="left"| My Beauty
|-
| colspan="10" style="font-size:8pt"| "—" denotes releases that did not chart
|-
|}
Guest appearances
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Song
! Album
|-
| 1988
| align="left"| "Sean" <small>(with The Proclaimers)</small>
| align="left"| Sunshine on Leith
|-
|}