Laurence Fox

Born into something of an acting dynasty -- his father James Fox was a BAFTA winner, his cousin Emilia Fox starred in Silent Witness, his uncle was acclaimed actor Edward Fox OBE, and his siblings Jack and Lydia Fox were also in the business -- Laurence Fox was better known as Detective Inspector James Hathaway from the British TV drama series Lewis. However, he enjoyed a notable second career as a singer/songwriter, a reversal of the career path taken by his wife, pop star-turned-Doctor Who actress Billie Piper. Despite being a relative latecomer to music-making, having not picked up a guitar until he was 20, Fox began to write his own songs and hone his craft on the open-mike scene in London, and subsequently uploaded some rough tracks to the BBC Introducing website. After being chanced upon by a local BBC radio DJ, Fox was sufficiently encouraged to record and release his first EP, Sorry for My Words, in 2013. Influenced by the storytelling qualities of his idols <a href="spotify:artist:3eqjTLE0HfPfh78zjh6TqT">Bruce Springsteen</a> and <a href="spotify:artist:2qc41rNTtdLK0tV3mJn2Pm">Ryan Adams</a>, it received a fair amount of airplay, chiefly on BBC Radio 2. That caught the attention of <a href="spotify:search:label%3A%22Caroline+Records%22">Caroline Records</a>, which subsequently encouraged him to work on a full-length album. Fox remained open to other acting opportunities while making the record and juggled his stage and screen commitments while writing and recording the initial sketches of its songs, which perhaps explains the time gap between his first EP and Holding Patterns, which appeared in February 2016. Fox released his third studio album, A Grief Observed, in November 2019. ~ Simon Spreyer, Rovi