When Trevor Burton left the Move in February 1969, Lynne was asked by Wood to join, only to say no, as he was still focused on finding success with his band. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept. The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. In 1968, Roy Wood - guitarist, vocalist and songwriter of the Move - had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to "pick up where the Beatles left off". The Move/Electric Light Orchestra in 1972 In 2017, the key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 top 40 hits (20) without a number one single of any band in US chart history. From 1972 to 1986, ELO accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100.
They collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. ĭuring ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling music groups of all time. Apart from a brief reunion in the early 2000s, ELO remained largely inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became the Orchestra. In 1986 Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group.
Two ELO albums reached the top of British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981). During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album Out of the Blue (1977). It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.ĮLO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography. Retrieved 27 January 2014.The Electric Light Orchestra ( ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan.