Steve Winwood (GB)

About

Also known as: Stephen Lawrence Winwood, Steve Anglo, Steve Windwood, Stevie Winwood

Steve Winwood has been threading together soul, blues, rock and jazz since the 1960s, and his fingerprints are on some of British music's most enduring moments. He made his name as a teenager with The Spencer Davis Group on tracks like "Gimme Some Lovin'" and "I'm a Man", then co founded Traffic with Chris Wood, Jim Capaldi and Dave Mason in 1967. A stint with Blind Faith followed, and a brief spell in Ginger Baker's Airforce before Traffic reformed and recorded the brilliant John Barleycorn Must Die. His solo career produced a string of albums from 1977 onward, including Arc of a Diver, Talking Back to the Night and the massive Back in the High Life. His 1982 track "Valerie" got a second life when a Tom Lord Alge remix pushed it to number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1987, and then a third wind when Eric Prydz sampled it for "Call on Me" in 2004. Winwood liked what Prydz had done enough to re record the vocals himself, turning it into a house anthem.