Paul David Heaton is an English singer-songwriter. He was the lead singer and main lyricist of The Housemartins, who had quite some commercial success in the UK and several other European countries between 1985 and 1988 with a.o. the singles "Happy Hour" and the UK number one single "Caravan of Love" in 1986, before the band disbanded in 1988. Heaton then formed The Beautiful South with The Housemartins' drummer Dave Hemingway in 1988, and the band's debut single (Song for Whoever) and debut album (Welcome to the Beautiful South) were released in 1989 to commercial success.
They had a series of hits throughout the 1990s, including the number-one single "A Little Time". They disbanded in 2007. He subsequently pursued a solo career, which produced three albums, and in 2014 he released What Have We Become?, a collaboration with former Beautiful South vocalist Jacqui Abbott. As of 2022, he has recorded four more albums with her: Wisdom, Laughter and Lines in 2015, Crooked Calypso in 2017, Manchester Calling in 2020 and N.K-Pop in 2022. In June 2024 it was announced on Heaton's homepage and on Heaton's official account on Twitter (@PaulHeatonSolo) that a new album, "The Mighty Several" (produced by Ian Broudie) will be released on Friday 11th October 2024.
British newspaper The Guardian has described Heaton as "one of our finest songwriters: his music reveals an exuberant ear for melody, his lyrics a keen eye and a brilliant wit". AllMusic said: "The warm, mellifluous voice of Paul Heaton often masks the jagged satirical content of his lyrics."
