Hugh Cornwell

Hugh Alan Cornwell (born 28 August 1949, Tufnell Park, North London, England) is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the vocalist and guitarist for the punk/new wave group, The Stranglers, from 1974 to 1990. Cornwell grew up in Tufnell Park and Kentish Town and attended William Ellis School in Highgate, where he played bass in a band with Richard Thompson, later a member of Fairport Convention. In the late 1960s, after earning a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Bristol University, he embarked on post-graduate research post in Lund University (Sweden). Not long after his arrival he formed the band Johnny Sox. Cornwell returned to the UK in 1974 with Johnny Sox (minus Hans Wärmling). Jet Black then joined the band. At one stage it was just Cornwell and Black, who were then joined by Jean Jacques Burnel. Hans Wärmling, on holiday from Sweden, joined the line-up towards the end of 1974. The Johnny Sox name was then dropped and the band toured under the name The Guildford Stranglers and eventually The Stranglers.