Recording Artists with Disabilities

One area on which disabled people have made a strong contribution is in music, particularly pop music.

In addition, let's not forget the inventor of the record player, Thomas Edison

 

Click here for Soul, Dance and Motown artists

Click here for Rock and Heavy Metal artists

Click here for Country, Jazz, Blues, Folk, Square & Classical

All artists - alphabetical lists

(by surname or group name)

Artists A-E

Gareth Gates

Gareth Gates

Disability: Stutter (source)

Despite coming second in ITV's Popstars programme, Gareth Gates went on to be hugely popular, with a string of hits including Unchained Melody, Anyone of Us, and Spirit In The Sky.

Barry Gibb

../Barry%20Gibb

Disability:    arthritis (source)

member of pop / disco band the Bee Gees


Billy Joel

Billy Joel

 

Pop / rock artist with several hits in the 1970s, 80s and early 90s.

Hits include Uptown Girl (as covered by Westlife), We Didn't Start The Fire, and River Of Dreams

Liza Minelli

../Liza%20Minnelli
Disability:    asthma (source)

    hits include "So Sorry I Said" and "Don't Drop Bombs"

Mike Nolan

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Disability:    Epilepsy (source)

Singer in Buck's Fizz
Bucks Fizz had several hits in early 1980's, and won Eurovision song
contest in 1991 with "Making Your Mind Up"

Bucks Fizz website:    Susan's Bucks Fizz Page

Gary Numan

Gary Numan

Disability: Aspergers (source: Wikipedia list of autistic people)

One of the pioneers of the "futurist" electronic music style, Gary Numan had a number of hits in the early 1980s - notably "Cars" and "Are Friends Electric"

Merrill Osmond

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Disability:     diabetes

one of The Osmonds, pop band from early 1970's


Scott of Five

Scott Robinson

Disability: dyslexia (source: CBBC News article)

A former member of Five (sometimes spelt 5ive), a boy band popular at the turn of the 20th/21st century.

Leo Sayer

Disabilities:

  • dyslexia (source)
  • had a "nervous breakdown" in 1968 (source)

Had a number of hits in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including "When I Need You", "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" and "How Much Love".

Returned to the charts in 2006, when a remix of "Thunder In My Heart" reached number 1.

Artists U-Z

Forum - suggest additions to this web page,  or discuss people already mentioned

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