Acting

Andrew Bown

Andrew Steven Bown (born 27 March 1946) is an English musician, who has specialised in keyboards and bass guitar. He is a member of the rock band Status Quo. Bown's first major band was The Herd, along with Peter Frampton. After The Herd dissolved he spent two years with Judas Jump who were the opening act of the Isle of Wight Festival 1970. He played [keyboards at first] for Frampton in the 1970s then switched to bass briefly when Rick Wills departed the Peter Frampton band in early 1975. Bown himself left the Frampton entourage less than a year later, just as Frampton was on the verge of achieving worldwide success. He went back to England where he first dabbled with a solo career (recording two solo albums for Bill Gaff's GM label, US Mercury), then resumed work with Status Quo whom he started playing keyboards for in 1973 as a session musician, including sessions with Jerry Lee Lewis on the London Sessions Album. Andy first appeared on Quo's Hello! album in that year; performing on every album by the band from 1977's Rockin' All Over the World onwards, and supporting them in concert. He joined Status Quo as a full member in 1982, and has been with them ever since. Bown released a number of singles in the 1970s, including "New York Satyricon Zany" and "Another Shipwreck", none of which charted. His most well-known song however was the theme tune to the children's series Ace of Wands, "Tarot". He also released five albums, the first of which, Gone to My Head, was released in 1972.