Richard Ashcroft

English musician/vocalist Richard Ashcroft is part of a long line of rock & roll's most affective personalities. As the frontman for the Verve, Ashcroft was riveting, charismatic, menacing, serpentine, and possessed of an almost shamanic intensity, and he embraced and articulated the anthemic fervor of rock music with a power and eloquence unparalleled by many of his contemporaries. Urban Hymns -- the Verve's 1997 multi-platinum-selling third album -- was the peak of the Wigan quartet's international success and led to Ashcroft being named Songwriter of the Year at the 1998 Iv...