best Electric Light Orchestra songs (A-Z) ↓↓↓

Electric Light Orchestra info & bio

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During their first run from 1970 to 1986, Lynne and Bevan were the group's only consistent members.

The group's name is a pun that references both electric light and "light orchestral music", a popular style featured in places such as the BBC Light Programme between the 1940s and 1960s. ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical influences. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the band's most commercially successful album, the double album Out of the Blue (1977). Two ELO albums reached the top of the British charts: the disco-inspired Discovery (1979) and the science-fiction-themed concept album Time (1981).

In 1986, Lynne lost interest in the band and disbanded the group. Bevan responded by forming his own band, ELO Part II, which later became The Orchestra. Following a brief reunion from 2000 to 2001, ELO once again went inactive until 2014, when Lynne re-formed the band with Richard Tandy as Jeff Lynne's ELO. Tandy died in May 2024, leaving Lynne as the sole living member. In 2024 ELO embarked on their final tour, which had been announced 4 years prior to Tandy's death, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

During ELO's original 13-year period of active recording and touring, they sold over 50 million records worldwide. They collected 19 CRIA, 21 RIAA, and 38 BPI awards. From 1972 to 1986 ELO accumulated 27 Top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart, and fifteen Top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Hot 100 Top 40 hits (20) without a number one. In 2017, four key members of ELO (Wood, Lynne, Bevan, and Tandy) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.