Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter, born in Oswestry in 1939, had already been working as a musician and songwriter before he became the voice of Mott the Hoople, singing for them from the day they started in 1969 until they came apart in 1974. Mott never quite conquered the world, but they won a small, devoted crowd.

Going solo meant pushing on through poor health and a real weariness with the chase for hits, with Mick Ronson's guitar often at his side. What came out ranged well beyond the rock mainstream. "Once Bitten, Twice Shy" was later covered by Great White, and "England Rocks" was reworked as "Cleveland Rocks", which the Presidents of the United States of America covered and The Drew Carey Show took up as one of its theme songs. Along the way he recorded for Columbia and, later, Yep Roc, and "When I'm President" put him back on the countdowns.

He never fully left Mott behind, either, rejoining them for reunions in 2009, 2013 and 2019.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.