Two time Grammy winner Robert Palmer counted the US Armed Forces Radio Network amongst his early musical influences. The son of an officer in British naval intelligence, he moved with his family to Malta, where he heard blues, soul and jazz on the network.
After returning to the UK, Palmer joined the Alan Bown Set, with whom he recorded three albums. When the band folded in 1974, Palmer signed a solo record deal with the same record label. Palmer moved to the US to record his first album, landing in New Orleans with Little Feat as his backing band. While Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley did not chart in his native UK, it cracked the top 100 in the US.
Palmer followed up with another album heavily influenced by Little Feat with Pressure Drop and then toured with the band as their opening act.
Robert Palmer’s music pivoted more towards rock in the ’80s where he found greater commercial success. After developing a friendship with the band members of Duran Duran, Palmer along with Andy and John Taylor from the band formed The Power Station when Duran Duran went on hiatus. The new group had two hit singles from their debut album, but Palmer abandoned the group to return to his solo career.
In 198,5 he released Riptide which featured his biggest hit Addicted to Love. The song won a Grammy and the accompanying video has proven to be some of the most memorable imagery from the MTV days, and is one that has generated a tremendous number of parody videos. Even Palmer himself parodied the video, replacing the all girl band in the original video with animated geese.
Robert Palmer died in 2003 at the age of 54. He was in Paris recording a TV special and suffered a heart attack in his hotel room.
