Adam Ant is the stage name of Stuart Leslie Goddard, an English new wave singer and actor from Marylebone, London. He is known as the lead singer of Adam and the Ants and for a solo career that begins after the group splits in 1982.

Early career and Adam and the Ants

Before forming Adam and the Ants, Ant is a member of Bazooka Joe, the band that the Sex Pistols open for at the Pistols’ first live appearance. Adam and the Ants start as a punk band and then move towards pop music in the early 1980s. By 1981 they are one of the biggest bands in Britain.

Ant disbands the group in March 1982, saying that some members lack enthusiasm. He then begins a solo career and keeps Marco Pirroni as guitarist and co-songwriter.

Solo success in the 1980s

His biggest American chart success comes with Friend or Foe, which includes “Goody Two Shoes”. That song reaches number one in the UK and Australia and number 12 in the United States. Other singles from the album include the title track, which reaches number nine in the UK, and “Desperate But Not Serious”.

In 1983, he works with Phil Collins and Richard James Burgess on Strip, recorded at Polar Studios in Stockholm. The single “Puss ’N Boots” reaches number five in the UK. The follow-up single “Strip” is banned by the BBC, including its video, and reaches number 41. Later that year, Ant appears as a guest performer on NBC’s Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever special.

In 1985, he works with producer Tony Visconti on Vive Le Rock. He appears at Live Aid but is asked to shorten his set to one song, so he performs the title track. The album is intended as a hard rock record, but it receives mixed reviews.

Later albums and acting

After Vive Le Rock, Ant decides to end his music career and focus on acting. He returns to the pop world in 1989 with Manners & Physique, a collaboration with André Cymone, a solo artist and an early member of Prince’s band. The album becomes a moderate success and includes the UK and US hit “Room at the Top”. “Rough Stuff” is the second single in the United States and Germany, while “Can’t Set Rules About Love” charts in the United Kingdom.

In 1993 he tours in support of Persuasion, an album planned for release by MCA. The label does not issue it, and Ant later leaves the company and signs with EMI. The album remains unreleased, although it circulates online.

He releases Wonderful in 1995. Its title track becomes a successful single, and he tours the United States with his group, which still includes Marco Pirroni. The tour ends early when Ant and Pirroni both contract glandular fever.

Return with Blueblack Hussar Records

Ant’s sixth solo studio album, Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner’s Daughter, is released on his own label, Blueblack Hussar Records. It reaches number 25 on the UK Albums Chart.