Peter John Murphy (born 11 July 1957, near Northampton, England, raised in Wellingborough, England), is an English Gothic Rock vocalist. He was the vocalist of the rock group Bauhaus who later went on to release a number of solo albums, such as Deep and Love Hysteria.
Thin, with prominent cheekbones, a rich voice, and a penchant for gloomy poetics, Murphy is often called the "Godfather of Goth." Whether rising from coffins on-stage, driving a hearse called the "Bauhearse," or appearing in concert as vampires, Bauhaus was one of the establishing acts of the goth movement. Their use of spacey recording effects and theatrical aesthetics was evocative of both early horror films and glam rock; they became an influential group in the early days of gothic rock. In 1982, Bauhaus appeared during the opening sequences of the horror movie The Hunger, performing one of their most popular songs, "Bela Lugosi's Dead". The camera focused almost exclusively on Murphy during most of the scene, panning only briefly to the stars David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve. Bauhaus reformed in 1998 for a tour, and once again in 2006 for a tour with Nine Inch Nails. The latter group's frontman, Trent Reznor, and Murphy were guests on several radio shows together, often performing three to four duets per radio show. Reznor cites Bauhaus as one of his primary musical influences, and had toured with Murphy earlier in both their careers.
Interesting Notes
Peter Murphy was the model for Maxell's UK "Blown Away Guy" ad campaign which ran in the 1980s, with its tagline of "Sentence your cassette to life." Despite the rumor, he's not the younger model in the omnipresent US edition of the campaign. He is married to Beyhan and has two children, named Hurihan and Adem. His wife has directed several of his videos, and leads the Turkish National Modern Dance company. Since 1992 he has been living in Ankara, Turkey.
Chase Bank uses a Peter Murphy performed cover version of John Lennon's "Instant Karma!" on a television spot called "Blue Sky".
Discography
* Should the World Fail to Fall Apart (1986)
* Love Hysteria (1988)
* Deep (1990)
* Holy Smoke (1992)
* Cascade (1995)
* Recall EP (1997)
* Wild Birds: 1985-1995 (compilation) (2000)
* A Live Just for Love (live) (2001)
* Dust (2002)
* Unshattered (2004)
* New Solo Album TBA (2009)
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