John Parr began his musical career at an early age when at 12 he formed his first band, The Silence. At first just a school band, the group found success and toured around Europe. When members of The Silence went their separate ways, Parr joined Ponders End and toured the working men's clubs of Yorkshire. In 1983 Parr was asked to pen some songs for Meat Loaf's upcoming album Bad Attitude. The following year, Parr released his debut solo single Naughty Naughty which earned him a number one on the Mainstream Rock Chart. While on tour supporting Toto, Parr was approached to write a song for a film called St. Elmo's Fire. This title track became Parr's biggest-selling single and landed him the number one spot around the world along with a Grammy nomination and critical acclaim. With his songwriting talent now internationally recognised, Parr composed theme tunes to several other films including The Minute I Saw You from Three Men And A Baby, Restless Heart from The Running Man, Two Hearts from American Anthem and Love Grammar from Flight Of The Spruce Goose. Parr also wrote the soundtrack to rock opera Paris, with the album winning the ARIA Award for Best Original Soundtrack. Parr then took a break from the music industry for a while, returning in 2007 when he toured with Bryan Adams. He once again picked up his manuscript paper as he began working on the soundtrack to The Brothers Solomon. Throughout his career Parr has been an ambassador for many charities, raising money wherever possible. His 2012 album The Mission was dedicated - as well as all the profits being given - to military families, attempting to raise awareness of the difficulties that service men and women face when they return to civilian life. Another of Parr's charitable acts was in 2014 when he got together The Who, Mick Hucknall, Jeff Beck and many others to perform in a concert geared towards raising awareness of prostate cancer.
