Leo Sayer

Gerard Hugh Sayer (born 21 May 1948), known by his stage name Leo Sayer, is an English singer and songwriter who has been active since the early 1970s. He is best known for his 1978 Grammy Award-winning song "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing". He has been an Australian citizen since 2009, and lives in New South Wales.

Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and became a top singles and album act, on both sides of the Atlantic in that decade. His first seven UK hit singles reached the top 10 – a feat first accomplished by his early-career manager, Adam Faith. His songs have been sung by other notable artists, including Cliff Richard, Roger Daltrey, and Three Dog Night.

Gerard Hugh Sayer was born on 21 May 1948 to Thomas E. G. Sayer and Theresa (née Nolan) in Shoreham-by-Sea, Sussex, England, and grew up there. He is the second of their three sons. His father was English and his mother was born in Maguiresbridge, Northern Ireland. He spent holidays on her father's small farm at Edenmore, a townland near the hamlet of Killesher; both Edenmore and Maguiresbridge are in County Fermanagh.

Sayer attended St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Shoreham-by-Sea and then Blessed Robert Southwell (now St Oscar Romero Catholic School) in Goring-by-Sea. He studied commercial art and graphic design at West Sussex College of Art and Design in Worthing, Sussex.

Sayer was discovered by musician David Courtney from Brighton, who then co-managed and co-produced him, with former pop singer Adam Faith. In January 1967 at the age of 18, while working as a hall porter at the King's Hotel in Hove, East Sussex, Sayer assisted in rescuing elderly guests from a serious fire, which damaged the hotel's first floor. He was rescued himself from the blazing hotel by builders working on a block of flats beside the hotel.

Biography summary from English Wikipedia, photograph via Wikimedia Commons.