David Longdon

David Longdon (17 June 1965 – 20 November 2021) was a British singer and multi-instrumentalist, who was best known as the lead vocalist and co-songwriter of the progressive rock band Big Big Train. Besides singing, Longdon played flute, keyboards, acoustic and electric 6 & 12 string guitars, bass, mandolin, lute, banjo, accordion, percussion, dulcimer, psaltry, vibraphone, theremin and glockenspiel.

Early life and career Longdon was born in Nottingham, England, on 17 June 1965. He began writing music at age nine after discovering The Who. He began his career as the lead singer of the band The Gift Horse. Longdon was one of those who auditioned as lead singer of rock band Genesis in 1996, following the departure of Phil Collins. He auditioned during the making of Calling All Stations (1997), but the role was given to Scottish singer Ray Wilson. He joined Big Big Train in 2009, and performed on numerous instruments in addition to his role as the lead singer beginning with the album The Underfall Yard in 2009. Steve Hackett described Longdon as "a lovely guy [with] a wonderful voice. He sounded fabulous singing on the vocal version of [Hackett’s song] 'Spectral Mornings'." the album was to be released anyway.

Trivia On 17 June 2026, the day on which David Longdon would have celebrated his 61st birthday, the ‘David Longdon Foundation’ was established. The foundation has two main objectives. On the one hand, it aims to support young musicians from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds through financial grants and mentoring by a panel of professional musicians and experts from the music industry; on the other hand, it aims to fund music therapy for those in need. To this end, the David Longdon Foundation works with Nordoff & Robbins, the UK’s largest music therapy charity, through which all donations are channelled towards music therapy.

The foundation was established by Longdon’s fiancée, Sarah Ewing, and his manager, Nick Shilton, who act as trustees.

Discography With Big Big Train Albums The Underfall Yard (2009) English Electric Part Two (2013) Folklore (2016) Grimspound (2017) The Second Brightest Star (2017) Grand Tour (2019) Common Ground (2021) Make Some Noise (2013) Wassail (2015) Door One (2022)

With Louis Philippe Jackie Girl (1996) Azure (1998) A Kiss in the Funhouse (1999) L'Etagère du Travail (2013)

With The Charlatans Modern Nature (song "Walk with Me") (2015)

With Judy Dyble Between a Breath and a Breath (2020)

Other projects Spectral Mornings (lyrics, flute and vocals) (2015) – along with Nick Beggs, Rob Reed, Nick D'Virgilio, Christina Booth and Steve Hackett.