Edwyn Collins (GB)

About

Also known as: Edwin Collins, Edwyn Colins, Edwyn Stephen Collins

Few songs have had a second life quite like Edwyn Collins's "A Girl Like You". The 1994 single crept up the charts after a Belgian DJ discovered it on an English holiday, eventually becoming a worldwide hit and Collins's only US entry, reaching number 32 after it featured in the film Empire Records. Before going solo, Collins had fronted Orange Juice, the post punk band he co founded, whose 1983 single "Rip It Up" hit number 8 in the UK and made history as the first British hit to use a Roland TB 303 bassline. In February 2005, Collins suffered two cerebral haemorrhages that left him able to say only four phrases, one of them being "the possibilities are endless", which later gave its name to a 2014 documentary about his recovery. He returned to recording and performing in 2007, releasing Home Again on Heavenly Records, an album he had actually recorded before his illness. Collins also co founded Postcard Records and later set up his own label, AED Records, operating out of his West Heath Yard Studios in London.