Frankie Goes to Hollywood

Group

Frankie Goes to Hollywood

From
Liverpool, United Kingdom
Active
1982–2023
Rating
★ 4.35 (3 votes)
Releases
39
  • pop
  • dance-pop
  • hi-nrg
  • new wave
  • dance
  • dance-rock
  • pop rock
  • synth-pop

About

Frankie Goes to Hollywood were an English pop band that formed in Liverpool in 1980. They comprised Holly Johnson (vocals), Paul Rutherford (backing vocals), Mark O'Toole (bass), Brian Nash (guitar) and Peter Gill (drums). Johnson and Rutherford were among the first openly gay pop singers, and Frankie Goes to Hollywood made gay rights and sexuality a theme of their music and performances.

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Frankie Goes to Hollywood signed to ZTT Records in 1983. Their debut album, Welcome to the Pleasuredome (1984), produced by Trevor Horn, achieved advance sales of more than a million, and their first three singles, "Relax", "Two Tribes" and "The Power of Love", reached number one on the UK singles chart. The BBC briefly banned them from broadcast for their provocative themes, drawing further publicity. In 2014, the music journalist Paul Lester wrote that "no band has dominated a 12-month period like Frankie ruled 1984".
Johnson, Gill and O'Toole received the 1984 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically for "Two Tribes". In 1985, Frankie Goes to Hollywood won the Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act and were nominated for Best New Artist at the Grammy Awards and MTV Video Music Awards.
Frankie Goes to Hollywood's second album, Liverpool (1986), sold fewer copies, and they disbanded acrimoniously in 1987. Johnson successfully sued ZTT to leave his contract and began a solo career. He declined invitations to reunite and tried to block the band from using the name. In 2004, Frankie Goes to Hollywood reunited without Johnson and Nash to perform at a Prince's Trust charity concert, with Ryan Molloy on vocals, and held a tour in 2005. They reunited with Johnson and Nash for the first time since 1987 to perform for the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest.

From Frankie Goes to Hollywood on Wikipedia, under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Members

Discography

Albums 2
EPs 1
Singles 9
Live 2
Compilations 17
Other 8

Links

Collaboration

Also known as

FGTH · Fankie Goes To Hollywood · Frankie Geos To Hollywood · Frankie Goes To Holiday · Frankie Goes To Hollwood · Frankie Goes To Hollywood · Frankie Goes To Holywood · Frankie Goes to Hollywod · Franky goes to Hollywood · フランキー・ゴーズ・トゥ・ハリウッド

Tags

  • british
  • glamrock
  • male vocalists
  • new pop
  • rock and indie
  • synthpop
  • uk

Identifiers

ISNI
0000000121610885

Data from MusicBrainz, saved 6 Nov 2026. Photo from Wikimedia Commons, covers from the Cover Art Archive and Apple Music.