Fish is Derek William Dick, a singer and songwriter from Dalkeith, Scotland. He is a former Marillion frontman and is associated with art rock and progressive rock.

Marillion

Fish joins Marillion in 1981 and serves as the band’s lead singer and lyricist until 1988. With the group he helps shape their neo-progressive rock sound and their commercial breakthrough in the early and mid-1980s. The band’s debut album, Script for a Jester’s Tear, reaches the UK Top 10 in 1983. Their chart success includes 11 UK Top 40 singles and five Top 10 albums, among them the number one album Misplaced Childhood. Their best-known singles include “Kayleigh,” “Lavender” and “Incommunicado.”

Solo career

After leaving Marillion in 1988, Fish builds a solo career that moves through pop, Celtic-influenced music and folk as well as rock. His debut solo album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, appears in 1990 and reaches number 5 in the UK Albums Chart. The record features contributions from Mickey Simmonds, Janick Gers, Hal Lindes, Mark Brzezicki, John Keeble, John Giblin and Luís Jardim, with backing vocals by Tessa Niles.

His second album, Internal Exile (1991), continues the Celtic and folk influences. He follows it with the cover album Songs from the Mirror (1993), then releases Suits (1994) and the live album Sushi through his own label, Dick Bros. He also issues the compilation albums Yin and Yang in 1995, both drawing on re-recorded material from his Marillion and solo work.

In 1997 he releases Sunsets on Empire, which he co-produces with Steven Wilson. Raingods with Zippos follows in 1999 on Roadrunner Records, developed from collaborative writing sessions and featuring contributions from Tony Turrell, Mark Daghorn and Steven Wilson. In the early 2000s he releases material on the independent label Chocolate Frog Record Company, including Fellini Days (2001), co-written with John Wesley and John Young, and Field of Crows (2004), co-written with Bruce Watson and Irvin Duguid.

Later work and retirement

Fish releases 13th Star in 2007 and tours in 2008, including his first North American tour in more than a decade. He also hosts radio and media programmes, including Fish on Friday on Planet Rock. In 2012 he hosts Fish Convention in Leamington Spa, performing acoustic and electric sets and previewing material from A Feast of Consequences, which appears in 2013.

He tours in 2018 to mark the 30th anniversary of Marillion’s Clutching at Straws and previews material from Weltschmerz. That album is released in 2020. During the COVID-19 pandemic he revives Fish on Friday as a weekly online video programme. He also releases the live album Vigil's End Tour 2021, documenting his farewell tour activity. He completes his farewell tour in 2025 and retires from live performance and recording.

Collaborations and recognition

Fish collaborates with Genesis founder Tony Banks, providing vocals on “Shortcut to Somewhere,” “Angel Face” and “Another Murder of a Day.” His voice is described as distinctive, and his lyrics are noted for their poetic, prose-like quality. In 2004 Classic Rock ranks him number 49 in its list of the 100 greatest frontmen, and in 2009 Planet Rock listeners vote him number 37 in a poll of greatest voices in rock music.

Background

He is born in 1958 and grows up in Dalkeith after being born in Edinburgh. Before his music career develops, he works as a petrol station attendant, gardener and forestry worker at Bowhill Estate in Selkirk between 1977 and 1980. He first performs as a singer in 1980 at the Golden Lion pub in Galashiels, later lives in Fochabers, and adopts the nickname Fish there after a remark from a landlady. He later says his birth name makes a stage name necessary for professional use.

His influences include Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, T. Rex, David Bowie, Argent, the Sensational Alex Harvey Band and Joni Mitchell, while his literary influences include Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Robert Burns and Dylan Thomas. He also sees Yes live in Edinburgh in 1974. He attends King’s Park Primary School and Dalkeith High School.