Justin Hayward was born on October 14th 1946 in Swindon, England, UK. As child, he was fascinated with music, so he took piano lessons at the age of seven. His talent for music soon became apparent when he taught himself to play the guitar and the ukulele. As a teenager, he played in several local music groups.
After he left school, he answered an advertisement in
The Melody Maker and was immediately accepted by
… More href="http://www.tv.com/marty-wilde/person/269128/summary.html">Marty Wilde and
Joyce (who, later, became his wife) in
The Wilde Three. With this group, he made several recordings and live performances such as the famous one at the London Palladium. During this time, Justin also began a solo career. This period did not last long because he joined
The Moody Blues in the summer of 1966. After joining
The Moody Blues, Justin's career as songwriter took off with hits like
Fly Me High,
Nights in White Satin and
Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?).
Nights in White Satin and
Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?) were released on the album entitled
Days of Future Past, which soon became a huge success. This album was even taken in space with the NASA shuttle
Atlantis by Chief astronaut "Hoot" Gibson on many missions.
After these huge hits, Justin and
Moody Blues began recording again and released hits such as
Question,
The Voice,
I Know Your Out There Somewhere and
In Your Wildest Dreams. During this time, the band also made regular world tours performing their hits on stage.
In 1975, the band took a break form touring and Justin took time to continue his solo career. He and fellow band member, John Lodge, released a collaborative effort entitled
Blue Jays. Justin continued to divide his attention between his solo career and his career with
Moody Blues. He produced hits such as
Night Flight and
Moving Mountains. In 1978, he joined a project with
Jeff Wayne and released the hit single entitled
Forever Autumn.
In 1989, he collaborated with
Mike Batt and the London Philharmonic Orchestra and recorded the album
c Blue.
Justin and
The Moody Blues are on the Rock Walk Hall of Fame on Sunset Boulevard. The band has received three
ASCAP awards for most performed work. Justin also won an Ivor Novello award and is a member of The Society of Distinguished Songwriters.
In 1997, Justin received his biggest honour when he was chosen as the subject for
This is Your Life His appearance on the show afforded him the opportunity to reunite with old pals like
Marty Wilde.
Justin lives with his wife, Marie, in Southern Europe and records in Italy at Studio Mullinetti. They have a daughter named Doremi Celeste who was born on 3 December 1972. She was named after the character on the show
Are You Being Served? named
Doremy.