British musician, a composer of electronic music. Numan cultivated a camped-up deadpan robotic stage presence in refined contrast to punk’s spiky-haired angry look. Throughout the early ’80s, he was one of the most popular artists in the U.K., amassing several Top Ten hits and two No.1 albums. Combining the electronic innovations of Kraftwerk, Brian Eno and David Bowie into Electropop, he created some of the first New Wave synthesizer-pop hits.
Numan originally performed as “Tubeway Army” with a chart-topping British single, “Are Friends Electric?” in 1978. Besides its robotic lyrics, its “futurist” electronic sound had a solid dance beat. The first record he released under his own name, 1979’s “Pleasure Principle,” featured the international (and now classic) synthesized dance-rock hit “Cars.” This single made it to No.1 in the U.K. and reached the U.S. Top Ten.
Around 1983, his career began to slip, as all his music began to sound alike. His pyramid-shaped live stage setup drew attention as a curiosity but on the whole, he went from being idolized to being attacked.
His “Telekin,” 1980 was only a modest success. Numan called wealthy punk bands hypocrites and announced his retirement from performing. He continued to record albums from his country retreat for almost two decades. His diehard fans stuck by him and a Numan tribute album was released in 1997. He put out the LP “Fury” in 1998 and “Dramatis Project” and “Pure” in 2000.
He became a professional pilot and, in 1981, flew around the world. He’s now one of only two civilian acrobatic instructor pilots in Britain, qualified to teach experienced pilots to fly World War II combat planes upside down. He also performs flying acrobatics at air shows.
Numan played minor roles in a couple of films. During the late 1990s, he married long-time fan Gemma O’Neil, hosted his website and published his autobiography, “Praying to the Aliens.”
Link to Wikipedia biography