Biography
Francis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, OBE (born 29 May 1949) is an English musician. He is the co-founder, lead singer, lead guitarist and the sole continuous member of the rock band Status Quo.
Rossi was born on 29 May 1949 in Forest Hill, London. His father's side of the family were Italian ice cream merchants and had an ice cream business in South London, and his mother was a Northern Irish Roman Catholic from Liverpool. He grew up in a household with his parents, grandmother, and "lots of aunts and uncles" and was given a Roman Catholic upbringing, having been named after Saint Francis of Assisi. He spent his summer holidays as a child with an aunt in Waterloo, Merseyside. He attended Our Lady and St Philip Neri Roman Catholic Primary School in Sydenham, and then Sedgehill Comprehensive School, from which he was expelled on his last day for having allowed his classmates to deface his school uniform. His desire to become a musician began after seeing The Everly Brothers live on television at a young age, after which he asked his parents to buy him a guitar for Christmas.
In 1962, while attending Sedgehill Comprehensive School, Rossi became close friends with future Status Quo bassist Alan Lancaster while playing trumpet in the school orchestra. The two, along with other classmates Alan Key (drums) and Jess Jaworski (keyboards), formed a band called the Scorpions, who played their first gig at the Samuel Jones Sports Club in Dulwich. Key was later replaced by Air Cadets drummer and future Quo member John Coghlan, and the band was renamed the Spectres. The Spectres wrote their own material and played live shows; the line-up soon included Redhill-based keyboard player Roy Lynes, whom they had seen performing with a band called the Echoes who were also based in Redhill. In 1965, the Spectres played at a Butlins holiday camp in Minehead. There Rossi met his future long-time Status Quo partner Rick Parfitt, who was playing as part of another band, the Highlights. The two became close friends and agreed to continue working together. In 1966, the Spectres signed a five-year deal with Piccadilly Records, releasing three singles that failed to chart. The group again changed their name, this time to Traffic Jam, after embracing psychedelia.
In 1967, Traffic Jam changed its name to The Status Quo, but eventually dropped the definite article. Shortly afterward Parfitt joined the band, completing the original line-up, and beginning an almost 50-year partnership with Rossi until Parfitt's death in 2016. Rossi had written a song called "Pictures of Matchstick Men", which hit the charts in both the UK and the US in 1968, launching their hit-making career. After some years of minor success, the band reached #5 in the album charts in 1972 with Piledriver. Released on Vertigo Records, it included "Paper Plane", a song penned by Rossi and Bob Young, which was released as a single. Status Quo continued to enjoy major success in the UK, Europe, Japan, Australia and New Zealand through the 1970s and 1980s. They were the opening act of 1985's Live Aid, and Rossi wrote and co-wrote some of their biggest hits, including "Caroline" and the band's only number one single, "Down Down". ...
Source: Article "Francis Rossi" from Wikipedia in English, licensed under CC-BY-SA 3.0.
Filmography
all 44
self 43
Movies 34
TV Shows 10
The Kemps: All Gold (2023)
Status Quo - Live at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park 2019 (2019)
Status Quo – Down Down & Dirty at Wacken (2018)
Status Quo - The Last Night of the Electrics (2017)
Status Quo - Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park 2016 (2016)
Status Quo - Aquostic - Live at the Roundhouse (2015)
Status Quo: The Frantic Four’s Final Fling - Live At The Dublin 02 Arena (2014)
Status Quo - The Frantic Four Reunion (2013)
Bula Quo! (2013)
Hello Quo (2012)
Celebrity Antiques Road Trip (2011)
Best of Night of the Proms Vol. 5 (2011)
Francis Rossi: Live at St Lukes London (2011)
Status Quo - Live at the BBC (2010)
Status Quo - Pictures Live at Montreux 2009 (2009)
Best of Night of the Proms Vol. 3 (2008)
James May's 20th Century (2007)
Concert for Diana (2007)
Status Quo - Just Doin' It! (2006)
Status Quo – The One And Only (2006)
John Peel's Record Box (2005)
Status Quo - Avo Session 2005 (2005)
Live Aid Against All Odds (2005)
Live Aid (2004)
Status Quo: XS All Areas - The Greatest Hits (2004)
Status Quo - Live Legends (2004)
Status Quo - Anniversary Waltz (2003)
When Rock Ruled the World (2002)
Status Quo - Rock 'Til You Drop (1991)
Les Nuls, l'émission (1990)
Status Quo - Perfect Remedy Tour 1989 (1989)
Going Live! (1987)
ZDF-Fernsehgarten (1986)
An Audience with Billy Connolly (1985)
Live Aid (1985)
The Best of Cannon & Ball (1985)
Status Quo - End Of The Road '84 (1984)
Surprise, Surprise (1984)
Champs-Elysées (1982)
An Audience with... (1978)
4-3-2-1 Hot and Sweet (1966)
Top of the Pops (1964)
Status Quo Reunion Tour 2013
Status Quo - The Party Ain't Over Yet
Ratings
Information
Known ForActing
GenderMale
Birthday1949-05-29 (74 years old)
Birth PlaceForest Hill, United Kingdom
CitizenshipsEngland
Also Known AsFrancis Dominic Nicholas Michael Rossi, Status Quo
AwardsOfficer of the Order of the British Empire
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