# Martin Fry
**Martin Fry** (Martin David Fry, born 1958 in Manchester) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead singer and only permanent member of the new wave and sophisti-pop band ABC, which he formed in [Sheffield](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheffield) around 1980.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/sep/22/weekend7.weekend) • [2](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/abc-martin-fry-interview/) ABC's debut album, *The Lexicon of Love* (1982), produced by [Trevor Horn](https://www.edgepedia.org/trevor-horn), went to number one on the UK album chart and sold over a million records, and Fry has fronted the band through nine studio albums across four decades.[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/) He is visually identified with the gold lamé suit he wore in the band's early years and still dons for the encore of "The Look of Love".[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | Manchester, 1958; went to college in Sheffield, where ABC was formed[1](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/sep/22/weekend7.weekend) |
| Path into music | While a student he edited the fanzine *Modern Drugs*; after interviewing the electronic band Vice Versa he was invited to join, and by late 1980 the group had evolved into ABC with Fry as lead singer[2](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/abc-martin-fry-interview/) |
| Signature album | *The Lexicon of Love* (1982), produced by Trevor Horn with string arrangements by Anne Dudley, reached No 1 in the UK and sold over a million records[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/) • [5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) |
| UK singles | Four singles from the debut charted in the UK: "Tears Are Not Enough", "Poison Arrow", "The Look of Love" (No 4) and "All of My Heart" (No 5)[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/lexicon-of-love-mw0000649803) |
| Studio albums | Nine: *The Lexicon of Love* (1982), *Beauty Stab* (1983), *How to Be a Zillionaire* (1985), *Alphabet City* (1987), *Up* (1989), *Abracadabra* (1991), *Skyscraping* (1997), *Traffic* (2008), *The Lexicon of Love II* (2016)[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/) |
| Health setback | Out of action for a time in the late 1980s while fighting Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare form of cancer[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii) |
| Memoir | *A Lexicon Of Life*, published more than 40 years after he became a star, covering his battles with cancer and alcoholism[7](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/a-lexicon-of-life-martin-fry-interview/) |
## Early life and Vice Versa
Fry was born in Manchester in 1958 and moved to Sheffield for college.[1](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/sep/22/weekend7.weekend) There he combined his studies with editing a music fanzine called *Modern Drugs*. After interviewing Stephen Singleton and Mark White of the local electronic outfit [Vice Versa](https://www.edgepedia.org/vice-versa), he was invited to join the band; by late 1980 it had evolved into ABC, with Fry as lead singer.[2](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/abc-martin-fry-interview/) He later recalled how the move happened: "We were jamming, and I started singing, and the other guys in the band said, 'Right, you can be the singer.'"[8](https://rockandrollglobe.com/pop/the-abcs-of-martin-fry/)
The band's first single, "Tears Are Not Enough", reached the UK top 20 in 1981.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon)
## The Lexicon of Love and the New Pop era
For the follow-up to their first single, ABC wanted a more polished sound. After hearing Dollar's "Hand Held in Black and White", with its panoramic production, they approached its producer, Trevor Horn, who agreed to work with them.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) Released in 1982, *The Lexicon of Love* entered the UK album chart at number one and sold over a million records.[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/) • [9](https://www.hamptonpooltrust.org.uk/concerts/abc-barbara.php) Horn's production merged synthesizers, prominent beats, and swaths of strings and horns, with orchestrations by Anne Dudley, who went on to a prominent career as a film composer with the [Art of Noise](https://www.edgepedia.org/art-of-noise).[6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/lexicon-of-love-mw0000649803)
**Fry's songwriting** aimed at a deliberately elevated register. He has said he wanted to take his songs to an emotional level along the lines of [Rodgers and Hammerstein](https://www.edgepedia.org/rodgers-and-hammerstein) or [Cole Porter](https://www.edgepedia.org/cole-porter), and that featuring strings so prominently was unusual for pop at the time.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) The album's imagery matched the music: the gold lamé suits and dinner jackets were, in his words, the band turning away from punk, with "an element of James Bond to it all, very aspirational and cosmopolitan".[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) In the UK, four singles from the album charted, with "The Look of Love" at No 4 and "All of My Heart" at No 5; in the US, "The Look of Love" and "Poison Arrow" reached the [Top 40](https://www.edgepedia.org/top-40).[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) • [6](https://www.allmusic.com/album/lexicon-of-love-mw0000649803)
A longform music video/film, *Mantrap*, featuring songs from the album, was released in 1983.[10](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/the-lowdown-abc-martin-fry/)
## Later ABC: changing lineups and fortunes
ABC's chart presence diminished after the debut. The second album, *Beauty Stab* (1983), turned toward what Fry describes as dour college rock; the critic Simon Reynolds called it "one of the greatest career-sabotage LPs in pop history".[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii) The third album, *How to Be a ... Zillionaire* (1985), was a satire about money in which the band styled themselves as cartoon characters; Fry considers it ahead of its time.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii) From that record, "Be Near Me" gave the group their first Top 10 US hit.[10](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/the-lowdown-abc-martin-fry/) The 1987 album *Alphabet City* produced "When Smokey Sings", a tribute to [Smokey Robinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/smokey-robinson) that became the band's best-known song in the US.[11](https://hifinews.com/content/abc-lexicon-love-page-2) • [12](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0296769/bio/)
In the late 1980s Fry was out of action for a time while fighting [Hodgkin lymphoma](https://www.edgepedia.org/hodgkin-lymphoma). In 1992 his long-time musical accomplice Mark White left the band to pursue a career in alternative therapies, and Fry was dropped by EMI as a solo artist.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii) He revived the ABC name in 1997 for *Skyscraping*, essentially a solo project on which [Heaven 17](https://www.edgepedia.org/heaven-17)'s Glenn Gregory and producer Keith Lowndes shared the writing credits.[10](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/the-lowdown-abc-martin-fry/) After ABC's original split, Fry continued working on solo material and eventually used the ABC name for what became his solo project.[13](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/martin-fry.html) The eighth album, *Traffic*, followed in 2008.[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/)
## The Lexicon of Love II and the orchestral years
The catalyst for a sequel to the debut was a 2009 performance of *The Lexicon of Love* at the [Royal Albert Hall](https://www.edgepedia.org/royal-albert-hall), where Fry and drummer David Palmer, the only remaining members of the album's line-up, performed it in its entirety with the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Anne Dudley.[14](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/abc-royal-albert-hall-london-1667707.html) Fry wrote around 40 songs for the project and persuaded [Virgin Records](https://www.edgepedia.org/virgin-records) to listen to some of them on his phone during a meeting about one of his compilation albums.[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii) With Trevor Horn unavailable, Gary Stevenson co-produced. *The Lexicon of Love II* (2016), co-written with the Academy Award-winning composer Anne Dudley among others, debuted at number five on the UK album chart.[10](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/the-lowdown-abc-martin-fry/) • [15](https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/abc) The Guardian's review judged that Fry's ABC had "pulled it off" the challenge of making a sequel to a 34-year-old classic.[16](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/26/abc-the-lexicon-of-love-ii-review-old-master-revisits-highs-of-heyday)
**Live work** has since centered on performing the debut album with an orchestra. In June 2022, ABC marked the 40th anniversary of *The Lexicon of Love* with a sold-out UK orchestra tour, playing Sheffield City Hall on the exact date the album had been released 40 years earlier, followed by a Sky Arts television special filmed at the [London Palladium](https://www.edgepedia.org/london-palladium).[9](https://www.hamptonpooltrust.org.uk/concerts/abc-barbara.php) • [15](https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/abc) During 2024, ABC played a 21-date orchestral tour of the UK that filled every venue, drawing crowds exceeding 35,000, and they also accompanied Howard Jones on a pair of US tours.[15](https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/abc) Scheduled dates include UK arena shows as special guests on [Culture Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/culture-club)'s Singles Tour in December 2026 and a six-date Australian tour plus first New Zealand dates in March 2027.[17](https://www.axs.com/uk/artists/453579/abc-tickets?aff=ukaffthelist) • [15](https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/abc)
## Image and voice
Fry's stage persona, the dapper frontman in the gold lamé suit, has followed him for decades; NME's Stephen Dalton described him as "an ageless performer" and "the missing link between Bryan Ferry and Jarvis Cocker".[3](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/) On record, he used a lot of falsetto on *The Lexicon of Love*, partly to convey what he calls the rollercoaster ride of elation and despair in being in love.[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon) Horn, who produced the debut, recalled that Fry was a fairly inexperienced singer when they started but grew in confidence as the album went along, capturing a wide range of emotion with "an edge of humour".[18](https://dcsaudio.com/edit/revisiting-abc-the-lexicon-of-love/)
## References
1. [Q & A: Martin Fry, The Guardian (22 September 2001)](https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2001/sep/22/weekend7.weekend)
2. [ABC: Martin Fry interview, Classic Pop Magazine (13 April 2025)](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/abc-martin-fry-interview/)
3. [About ABC, abcmartinfry.com](https://www.abcmartinfry.com/)
4. [Martin Fry on ABC's comeback: 'Lexicon of Love II is a kind of Godfather Part II', The Guardian (2 June 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/jun/02/martin-fry-abc-comeback-lexicon-of-live-ii-godfather-part-ii)
5. [How we made: ABC's Martin Fry and Anne Dudley on The Lexicon of Love, The Guardian (21 January 2013)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/jan/21/how-we-made-abc-lexicon)
6. [The Lexicon of Love review by William Ruhlmann, AllMusic](https://www.allmusic.com/album/lexicon-of-love-mw0000649803)
7. [A Lexicon Of Life – Martin Fry Interview, Classic Pop Magazine](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/a-lexicon-of-life-martin-fry-interview/)
8. [The ABCs of Martin Fry, Rock and Roll Globe (17 February 2025)](https://rockandrollglobe.com/pop/the-abcs-of-martin-fry/)
9. [Hampton Pool Trust – Summer Picnic Concerts: ABC and Barbara](https://www.hamptonpooltrust.org.uk/concerts/abc-barbara.php)
10. [The Lowdown – ABC/Martin Fry, Classic Pop Magazine](https://www.classicpopmag.com/features/the-lowdown-abc-martin-fry/)
11. [ABC The Lexicon Of Love, Page 2, Hi-Fi News](https://hifinews.com/content/abc-lexicon-love-page-2)
12. [Martin Fry – Biography, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0296769/bio/)
13. [Martin Fry – Age, Bio, Family, Famous Birthdays](https://www.famousbirthdays.com/people/martin-fry.html)
14. [ABC, Royal Albert Hall, London, The Independent (12 April 2009)](https://www.the-independent.com/arts-entertainment/music/reviews/abc-royal-albert-hall-london-1667707.html)
15. [ABC – Lexicon Of Life Tour 2027, Destroy All Lines](https://www.destroyalllines.com/tours/abc)
16. [ABC: The Lexicon of Love II review, The Guardian (26 May 2016)](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/may/26/abc-the-lexicon-of-love-ii-review-old-master-revisits-highs-of-heyday)
17. [ABC Tickets – Concert Tour Dates, AXS UK](https://www.axs.com/uk/artists/453579/abc-tickets?aff=ukaffthelist)
18. [Revisiting: ABC – The Lexicon of Love, DCS Audio](https://dcsaudio.com/edit/revisiting-abc-the-lexicon-of-love/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Rock, metal, and popular-band musicians › Post-punk and new wave › Singers and frontpeople*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license