On This Day 8th August 2004, English singer-songwriter Ed Harcourt played Cardiff’s Glee Club.
Born Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith on 14 August 1977, in Wimbledon, London, England. The youngest of three, Harcourt is the son of Maj. Charles Harcourt-Smith of the Life Guards and also a former diplomat,and his wife Sabrina, an art historian.
Ed began to study piano at the age of nine and achieved grade 8 when he was 17. He declined the offer to study music, citing "the idea of having to analyse, dissect and everything [of one piece of music] would completely destroy any enjoyment".
Before going solo, Harcourt played the bass and keyboards for Snug, a band formed at school in the mid-1990s by Harcourt, James Deane, Ed Groves and Johnny Lewsley. The band recorded two albums and a handful of singles together before dissolving.
Harcourt's third album, Strangers, was released in September 2004. The album peaked at No. 57 in the UK and at No. 7 in Sweden, and produced the singles "This One's for You", "Born in the '70s", and "Loneliness."
