Roland Gift

Roland Lee Gift (born 28 May 1961)^[1] is a British singer, songwriter, and actor. He is the former lead vocalist of the pop rock band Fine Young Cannibals.

Gift was born on 28 May 1961 in the Sparkhill district of Birmingham to an English mother and an Afro-Caribbean father. He lived in Sparkhill until the age of 11, receiving his early formal education at Anderton Park School and Arden Primary School.^[2] His family then moved to Kingston upon Hull, where his mother, Pauline, ran several second-hand clothes shops while he was a pupil at Kelvin Hall School.

Gift's first recording was as a saxophonist with Akrylykz, a ska band from Hull. The album was the second release on York's Red Rhino Records.^[3] Although this record was unsuccessful, it did bring him to the attention of Andy Cox and David Steele of the Beat. Akrylykz toured with the Beat.^[4]

Cox and Steele asked Gift to become the lead singer of their new band, Fine Young Cannibals, after the Beat had disbanded. Fine Young Cannibals' eponymous debut album was released in 1985, spawning two UK hit singles, "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds".^[5] The band released the singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing" from the 1989 album The Raw & the Cooked; both songs reached #1 in the United States.^[6] In 1990, the band won two Brit Awards: Best British Group and Best British Album (for The Raw & the Cooked).^[7]

Gift has performed as a solo artist, appearing at the Rewind Festival in Henley.^[8] On 13 February 2012, Gift appeared on BBC Radio Solent promoting the gigs and announced a potential new album in 2012.

He also appeared in Jools Holland's 20th annual Hootenanny show, which aired overnight on BBC2 on 31 December 2012/1 January 2013,^[9] the last to be recorded at BBC Television Centre. Gift sang the Fine Young Cannibals hits "Good Thing" and "Suspicious Minds". Gift was a guest vocalist on Jools Holland's 2013 tour.^[10]

Ten years after his first Hootenanny appearance, Gift re-appeared in Jools Holland's annual Hootenanny show again, which aired overnight on BBC2 on 31 December 2022/1 January 2023.^[11] Gift sang the Fine Young Cannibals hits "Suspicious Minds" and "Good Thing". Gift announced a two-show tour in 2025 billed as "Roland Gift Presents Fine Young Cannibals".^[12]

Gift had his first screen role in a Clash movie (he was a roadie for them at the time), and also appeared in Out of Order the same year. In 1990, he did his first stage work, playing Romeo in the Hull Truck Theatre's production of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, a production which had a brief run in the United States at the Staller Center for the Arts.^[13] He also appeared as a lounge singer (singing songs that were included in the Fine Young Cannibals' album The Raw and the Cooked) in the 1987 film Tin Men, directed by Barry Levinson.^[14]

In 1989, he appeared in Scandal as Johnny Edgecombe, Christine Keeler's boyfriend.

In December 1992, he began the first of five appearances as Immortal Xavier St. Cloud in the television series Highlander: The Series, and appeared in a 1993 episode of the Yorkshire Television series Heartbeat (Ser. 2 Ep 5, Over The Hill). He played Ken Marston. He also had a small role as the jazz saxophonist Eddie Mullen in the mini-series Painted Lady (1997), starring Helen Mirren, and appeared in the film The Island of the Mapmaker's Wife (2001).

In 2020, he starred as Johnny Holloway, an ex-pop star sent to prison, in the BBC Radio 4 musical drama Return to Vegas. Gift wrote the play and co-composed the music together with Ben Barson, brother of Madness's Mike Barson.^[15][16][17]

Gift has three sisters and one brother.

He has two sons. His wife Louise died in 2019.^[15]

• Roland Gift at AllMusic
• Roland Gift discography at Discogs
• Roland Gift at IMDb