Gary Numan

The King of Synthpop Gary Numan drops into the Empire for a one-off London gig this summer following his showing at the Lovebox Weekender. Numan's career is enjoying something of an Indian summer on the back of the Sugababe's #1 hit Freak Like Me, which sampled the infectious synth loop from the godfather of electro's 1979 single Are Friends Electric (making it even better than the Tubeway Army original, he claims). Thanks too must go to the runaway success of The Mighty Boosh, whose lead character Vince Noir (played by Noel Fielding) is something of a Numan fanatic. Tagged 'the Bowie of the 80s' - which Numan found "flattering in a way, a bit worrying in another" - the post-punk-electronic pioneer was somewhat eclipsed by the likes of Duran Duran and Depeche Mode following his breakthrough hits Cars and Are Friends Electric. But in a display of reinvention that has won him plaudits from the likes of Dave Grohl, Trent Reznor of the Nine Inch Nails and Marilyn Manson, Numan transformed into a harder and darker package in the 90s. The new millennium saw a fresh, mellower Numan, the one-time Thatcherite marrying a member of his fan club, having three children called Raven, Persia and Echo, and writing an autobiography called Praying to the Aliens. After 30 years in the business, Numan still has a major influence on current musical trends and is now working on an 18th studio album, Splinter, out early next year. He may no longer be the sinister, moody, bleak, morbid and glumly gothic persona of his early incarnation, but Numan will always be remembered as the man who replaced the guitar with the synthesiser - and did so wearing black.