Richard Ashcroft psychedelic music and drugs. They also became a part of the Britpop movement. The band split in 1995, and around this time Ashcroft wrote a collection of songs he intended to release as his first solo album. However, by 1997 he had changed his mind and asked McCabe to return (alongside new member Tong), reforming The Verve and releasing the very successful album "Urban Hymns". Ashcroft was at the forefront of the band's popularity, receiving an Ivor Novello Award for his songwriting and being referred to by the press as "the unmistakable face of the Number One rock band in
Richard Ray Farrell singing. In 1978, he briefly fronted a Spanish blues-rock band in Spain, and lived with a gypsy family for six months. After becoming a father in 1985, he relocated to Stuttgart, Germany, and played with a local blues band. In 1987, Richard opened for Joe Cocker at the Backnang Open Air Festival. Two years later he led his own Richard Ray Farrell Band, and started touring across Europe. Through connections he toured with Lazy Lester, Big Jack Johnson, Big Boy Henry, Louisiana Red, Frank Frost and R. L. Burnside between 1990 and 1993, during which time Farrell released his debut