George Benson

Real name: George Benson
Birthday: 22 March 1943
Place of birth: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Career highlights: Grammy-winning guitarist, three platinum, two gold album awards Highest charting singles: Give Me The Night, number seven, 1980, In Your Eyes, number seven, 1983

George Benson is one of the best jazz guitarists in history, and he can play any style, from swing to bop to pop. But it is his velvet voice that has earned him his popularity and made women weak at the knees.

Starting his music career at 21 he recorded his first album, The New Boss Guitar. From there he was quickly spotted by Lonnie Smith and Miles Davies.

By the mid to late 70's, as he recorded for Warner Records, a whole new audience began to discover him for the first time. With the 1976 releases Breezin’ and This Masquerade, the public was introduced to his voice, and he went down a storm. A string of US number one hit singles followed and George became a renowned singer in his own right.

The one-time child prodigy had entered his heyday and became a major live attraction in Britain in the 1980s.

George is still recording now, having had a string of pop hits in the 90s. Three songs from 2006's Givin’ It Up album, recorded with Al Jarreau, were nominated for Grammy Awards in separate categories.