List of Level 42 members

Script error: No such module "Multiple image".

Level 42 are an English jazz-funk band from the Isle of Wight. Formed in late 1979, the group were originally an instrumental outfit consisting of bassist Mark King, keyboardist Mike Lindup, guitarist Rowland "Boon" Gould and drummer Phil Gould.^[1] Shortly after their formation, the band were encouraged to add vocals to their music, with both King and Lindup taking on lead vocalist duties.^[2] The group's lineup remained constant throughout much of the 1980s, before the Gould brothers left in October 1987.^[3] After suffering exhaustion on tour, Boon and Phil were replaced for shows at the end of the year by Paul Gendler and Neil Conti, respectively.^[4] Early the next year, King and Lindup enlisted Steve Topping, soon replaced by Alan Murphy, and Gary Husband as their new permanent bandmates,^[5] after deciding against continuing with supporting musicians.^[6]

Topping left Level 42 due to musical differences after tour dates in early 1988.^[7] He was replaced later by Alan Murphy, who debuted on Staring at the Sun later in the year.^[8] On 19 October 1989, however, Murphy died of pneumonia resulting from AIDS.^[9] The group took a year off before returning to record Guaranteed, on which the three official members worked with guitarists Allan Holdsworth and Dominic Miller.^[10] Holdsworth also performed on tour dates in December 1990.^[11] Early the following year, before the album's release, Jakko Jakszyk joined as Murphy's permanent touring replacement.^[12] After more tour dates, Husband left Level 42 in March 1992.^[11] Phil Gould returned in his place the following year, although only for the recording of Forever Now.^[13] He was replaced for subsequent tour dates by Gavin Harrison.^[14]

After breaking up at the end of their 1994 tour, Level 42 reformed in late 2001 after King secured the rights to use the band name. Joining the frontman were his brother Nathan on guitar, Sean Freeman on saxophone, and returning members Husband (drums) and Lyndon Connah (keyboards).^[15]^[16] In 2003, an original lineup reunion was attempted by King, Lindup and the Gould brothers (along with frequent contributor Wally Badarou), however after "about four days" of writing new material it "just fell apart".^[13] Lindup collaborated with the band again in 2005 to record some keyboard parts for their new studio album Retroglide,^[17] before returning on a full-time basis the next year.^[18] Billy Cobham substituted for Husband at a number of shows in 2008,^[19]^[20] before the regular drummer was replaced by Pete Ray Biggin in 2010.^[2]

In October 2013, Level 42 released their first new studio material since 2006, the Sirens EP, which introduced new band members Dan Carpenter on trumpet and Nichol Thomson on trombone.^[21] The newly expanded horn section later joined the group on tour in 2014.^[22]

Members

Current

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Template:CSS image crop	Mark King	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases
Template:CSS image crop	Mike Lindup	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases from Level 42 (1981) to Forever Now (1994), and from Level 42 at Rockpalast (2005) onwards
Template:CSS image crop	Nathan King	2001–present	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases from Live 2001 Reading UK (2002) to Live at the Apollo (2004), and from Retroglide (2006) onwards
Template:CSS image crop	Sean "Skip" Freeman	2001–present	Template:Hlist
Template:CSS image crop	Pete Ray Biggin	2010–present	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases from 1980–2010: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2011) onwards
Template:CSS image crop	Dan Carpenter	2013–present	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Template:CSS image crop	Nichol Thomson	2013–present	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist

Former

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Template:CSS image crop	Phil Gould	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
	Rowland "Boon" Gould	Template:Hlist(died 2019)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Template:CSS image crop	Gary Husband	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases from Staring at the Sun (1988) to Guaranteed Live (1992), from Live at Wembley (1996) to Live at the Apollo (2004), and from Retroglide (2006) to Live in Holland 2009 (2009)
	Steve Topping	1988	guitar	none
	Alan Murphy	1988–1989 (until his death)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	guitar	Template:Hlist
	Lyndon Connah	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist

Touring

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions	Notes
Template:CSS image crop	Gary Barnacle	Template:Hlist	saxophone	Template:Hlist	Barnacle toured with Level 42 during the 1980s and 1990s, and featured on several studio albums.^[23]
	Krys Mach	1984–1988	saxophone	Template:Hlist	Mach took over from Barnacle in 1984, and remained part of the touring band until Barnacle's return.^[23]
	Annie McCaig	1985–1992	backing vocals	Guaranteed (1991)	McCaig joined the touring band after the release of World Machine, appearing on several albums and tours.^[23]
	Paul Gendler	1987	guitar	none	Following the Gould brothers' departures, Gendler and Conti filled in for remaining tour dates later that year.^[4]
Template:CSS image crop	Neil Conti	1987	drums	none
	John Thirkell	1988–1994	trumpet	Template:Hlist	Thirkell was added to the group's touring lineup as its first trumpeter in 1988, once Barnacle had returned.^[23]
Template:CSS image crop	Allan Holdsworth	1990 (died 2017)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	guitar	Guaranteed (1991)	After the death of Alan Murphy in 1989, Holdsworth recorded on Guaranteed and subsequent tour dates.^[11]
Template:CSS image crop	Jakko Jakszyk	1991–1994	Template:Hlist	Guaranteed (1991)	Jakszyk joined after Holdsworth's short stint in the group, remaining until the band broke up in 1994.^[12]
Template:CSS image crop	Gavin Harrison	1994	drums	none	Following Phil Gould's second departure, Harrison performed drums on the 1994 Forever Now tour.^[14]
Template:CSS image crop	Billy Cobham	2008	drums	none	Cobham substituted for Gary Husband during 2008, when the regular drummer was unavailable.^[19]^[20]

Session

Image	Name	Years active	Instruments	Release contributions
Template:CSS image crop	Wally Badarou	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist	all Level 42 releases from Level 42 (1981) to Forever Now (1994)
	Leroy Williams	1981–1982	Template:Hlist	Template:Hlist
Template:CSS image crop	Dave Chambers	1981–1982	tenor saxophone	Template:Hlist
	Pete Wingfield	1982	clavinet	The Pursuit of Accidents (1982)
	Pete Jacobson	1982	synthesizers	The Pursuit of Accidents (1982)
Template:CSS image crop	Paulinho da Costa	1983	percussion	Standing in the Light (1983)
	Andrew Woolfolk	1983	soprano saxophone	Standing in the Light (1983)
	Steve Sidwell	1988	trumpet	Staring at the Sun (1988)
Template:CSS image crop	Dominic Miller	1988–1991	guitars	Template:Hlist
	Danny Blume	1993–1994	guitars	Forever Now (1994)
	Miles Bould		percussion
	Mitey		voice
	Derek Watkins		trumpet
	Stuart Brooks		trumpet
	Richard Edwards		trombone

Timeline

<timeline> ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:100 bottom:110 top:10 right:10 Alignbars = justify DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/10/1979 till:15/05/2026 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:4 ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1980 ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1980

Colors =

 id:lvocals    value:red          legend:Lead_vocals
 id:bvocals    value:pink         legend:Backing_vocals
 id:guitar     value:green        legend:Guitar
 id:bass       value:blue         legend:Bass
 id:keys       value:purple       legend:Keyboards
 id:drums      value:orange       legend:Drums
 id:perc       value:claret       legend:Percussion
 id:sax        value:tan2         legend:Saxophone
 id:trumpet    value:skyblue      legend:Trumpet
 id:trombone   value:coral        legend:Trombone
 id:touring    value:yellow       legend:Touring_member
 id:studio     value:black        legend:Studio_releases
 id:live       value:gray(0.75)   legend:Live_recordings
 id:bars       value:gray(0.95)

BackgroundColors = bars:bars

LineData =

 layer:back
 color:live
 at:29/10/1983
 at:13/10/1984
 at:30/03/1985
 at:30/11/1986
 at:12/01/1989
 at:20/03/1992
 at:03/12/2001
 at:22/11/2003
 at:31/10/2006
 at:18/02/2009
 at:23/10/2010
 at:10/12/2011
 at:05/09/2015
 at:24/10/2018
 color:studio
 at:15/08/1981
 at:15/03/1982
 at:15/08/1982
 at:15/10/1983
 at:15/10/1984
 at:15/09/1985
 at:15/03/1987
 at:15/09/1988
 at:15/10/1991
 at:14/03/1994
 at:18/09/2006
 at:31/10/2013

BarData =

 bar:Mark   text:"Mark King"
 bar:Boon   text:"Boon Gould"
 bar:Paul   text:"Paul Gendler"
 bar:Steve  text:"Steve Topping"
 bar:Alan   text:"Alan Murphy"
 bar:Allan  text:"Allan Holdsworth"
 bar:Jakko  text:"Jakko Jakszyk"
 bar:Nathan text:"Nathan King"
 bar:Mike   text:"Mike Lindup"
 bar:Lyndon text:"Lyndon Connah"
 bar:Phil   text:"Phil Gould"
 bar:Neil   text:"Neil Conti"
 bar:GaryH  text:"Gary Husband"
 bar:Gavin  text:"Gavin Harrison"
 bar:Billy    text:"Billy Cobham"
 bar:Pete   text:"Pete Ray Biggin"
 bar:GaryB  text:"Gary Barnacle"
 bar:Krys   text:"Krys Mach"
 bar:Sean   text:"Sean Freeman"
 bar:John   text:"John Thirkell"
 bar:Dan    text:"Dan Carpenter"
 bar:Nichol text:"Nichol Thomson"
 bar:Annie  text:"Annie McCaig"

PlotData =

width:13 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(11,-4)
 color:lvocals
 bar:Mark   from:01/06/1980 till:14/10/1994 
 bar:Mike   from:01/06/1980 till:14/10/1994 width:3
 bar:Mark   from:01/11/2001 till:end        
 bar:Mike   from:15/05/2006 till:end        width:3

 color:guitar
 bar:Boon   from:start      till:31/10/1987
 bar:Boon   from:01/10/2012 till:31/10/2012
 bar:Paul   from:01/11/1987 till:31/01/1988
 bar:Steve  from:01/02/1988 till:31/03/1988
 bar:Alan   from:01/04/1988 till:19/10/1989
 bar:Allan  from:01/08/1990 till:15/12/1990
 bar:Jakko  from:01/04/1991 till:14/10/1994
 bar:Nathan from:01/11/2001 till:end

 color:keys
 bar:Mike   from:start      till:14/10/1994
 bar:GaryH  from:01/01/1990 till:31/03/1992 width:7
 bar:Lyndon from:01/08/1990 till:15/12/1990
 bar:Phil   from:01/03/1993 till:30/06/1994 width:7
 bar:Lyndon from:01/11/2001 till:14/05/2006
 bar:Mike   from:15/05/2006 till:end

 color:bass
 bar:Mark   from:start      till:31/05/1980
 bar:Mark   from:01/06/1980 till:14/10/1994 width:7
 bar:Mark   from:01/11/2001 till:end        width:7

 color:drums
 bar:Phil   from:start      till:31/10/1987
 bar:Neil   from:01/11/1987 till:31/01/1988
 bar:GaryH  from:01/02/1988 till:31/03/1992
 bar:Phil   from:01/03/1993 till:30/06/1994
 bar:Gavin  from:01/07/1994 till:14/10/1994
 bar:GaryH  from:01/11/2001 till:14/02/2010
 bar:Billy  from:24/05/2008 till:24/05/2008 width:3
 bar:Pete   from:15/02/2010 till:end

 color:sax
 bar:Boon   from:start      till:31/08/1980 width:3
 bar:GaryB  from:01/09/1981 till:30/11/1981
 bar:Krys   from:01/11/1984 till:30/09/1988
 bar:GaryB  from:01/10/1988 till:14/10/1994
 bar:Sean   from:01/11/2001 till:end

 color:trumpet
 bar:John   from:01/10/1988 till:14/10/1994
 bar:Dan    from:01/06/2013 till:end

 color:trombone
 bar:Nichol from:01/06/2013 till:end

 color:bvocals
 bar:Phil   from:01/06/1980 till:31/10/1987 width:3
 bar:Annie  from:01/10/1985 till:31/05/1992
 bar:GaryH  from:01/01/1990 till:31/03/1992  width:3
 bar:Lyndon from:01/08/1990 till:15/12/1990 width:3
 bar:Jakko  from:01/04/1991 till:14/10/1994 width:3
 bar:Phil   from:01/03/1993 till:30/06/1994 width:3
 bar:Nathan from:01/11/2001 till:end        width:3
 bar:Lyndon from:01/11/2001 till:14/05/2006 width:3
 bar:Sean   from:01/11/2001 till:end        width:3
 bar:Dan    from:01/06/2013 till:end        width:3
 bar:Nichol from:01/06/2013 till:end        width:3

 color:perc width:3
 bar:Phil   from:start      till:31/05/1980  
 bar:Phil   from:01/06/1980 till:31/10/1987 width:7
 bar:Mark   from:start      till:14/10/1994 
 bar:Mark   from:01/11/2001 till:end       
 bar:mike   from:start      till:31/05/1980  
 bar:Mike   from:01/06/1980 till:14/10/1994 width:7
 bar:Mike   from:15/05/2006 till:end        width:7
 bar:Pete   from:15/02/2010 till:end
 bar:Dan    from:01/06/2013 till:end        width:7
 bar:Nichol from:01/06/2013 till:end        width:7

 color:touring 
 bar:GaryB  from:01/09/1981 till:30/11/1981
 bar:Krys   from:01/11/1984 till:30/09/1988
 bar:Annie  from:01/10/1985 till:31/05/1992
 bar:Paul   from:01/11/1987 till:31/01/1988
 bar:Neil   from:01/11/1987 till:31/01/1988
 bar:GaryB  from:01/10/1988 till:14/10/1994
 bar:John   from:01/10/1988 till:14/10/1994
 bar:Allan  from:01/08/1990 till:15/12/1990 
 bar:Lyndon from:01/08/1990 till:15/12/1990 width:7
 bar:Jakko  from:01/04/1991 till:14/10/1994 width:7
 bar:Gavin  from:01/07/1994 till:14/10/1994
 bar:Billy  from:24/05/2008 till:24/05/2008 width:13

</timeline>

Lineups

Period	Members	Releases
Late 1979 – October 1987 (Classic Lineup)	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Boon Gould – guitar, occasional saxophone Phil Gould – drums, percussion, backing vocals	Level 42 (1981) The Early Tapes (1982) The Pursuit of Accidents (1982) Standing in the Light (1983) True Colours (1984) A Physical Presence (1985) World Machine (1986) Running in the Family (1987) Live at Wembley (1987) Level 42 at Rockpalast (2005) The River Sessions (2005)
October 1987 – early 1988	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Paul Gendler – guitar (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Neil Conti – drums (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	none – live performances onlyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Early 1988	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Steve Topping – guitar Gary Husband – drums, backing vocals
Early 1988 – October 1989	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Alan Murphy – guitar Gary Husband – drums, backing vocals	Staring at the Sun (1988) Fait Accompli (1989) "Take Care of Yourself" (1989) Live at Wembley (1996)
October 1989 – late 1990	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Gary Husband – drums, backing vocals	Guaranteed (1991)
December 1990	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Gary Husband – drums, backing vocals Allan Holdsworth – guitar (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	none – live performances onlyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Early 1991 – March 1992	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Gary Husband – drums, backing vocals Jakko Jakszyk – guitar, backing vocals (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	Guaranteed Live (1992)
Early 1993 – mid-1994	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Phil Gould – drums, keyboards, backing vocals Jakko Jakszyk – guitar, backing vocals (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	Forever Now (1994)
Mid – late 1994	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Jakko Jakszyk – guitar, backing vocals (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Gavin Harrison – drums (touring)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".	none – live performances onlyScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
Group inactive 1994–2001
Late 2001 – May 2006	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Nathan King – guitar, backing vocals Lyndon Connah – keyboards, backing vocals Gary Husband – drums Sean Freeman – saxophone, backing vocals	Live 2001 Reading UK (2002) Greatest Hits Live (2003) Live at the Apollo (2004) Retroglide (2006)
May 2006 – February 2010	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Nathan King – guitar, backing vocals Gary Husband – drums Sean Freeman – saxophone, backing vocals	Retroglide Tour (2007) Live in Holland 2009 (2009)
February 2010 – late 2013	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Nathan King – guitar, backing vocals Pete Ray Biggin – drums, percussion Sean Freeman – saxophone, backing vocals	1980–2010: 30th Anniversary World Tour (2011) Live from Metropolis Studios (2013) Live in Switzerland (2023)
Late 2013 – present	Mark King – bass, vocals, percussion Mike Lindup – keyboards, synthesisers, vocals Nathan King – guitar, backing vocals Pete Ray Biggin – drums, percussion Sean Freeman – saxophone, backing vocals Dan Carpenter – trumpet, backing vocals Nichol Thomson – trombone, backing vocals	Sirens (2013) Sirens Tour Live (2015) Eternity (2019) Living It Up (2023)

References

↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".

External links

Level 42 official website

Script error: No such module "Navbox".

[1] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[allmusic-2] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[3] Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

[1987tour-4] Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

[5] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[1988feature-6] Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

[7] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[8] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[9] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[10] Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

[1990tour-11] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[jakko-12] Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".

[reunion-13] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[harrison-14] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[15] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[16] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[17] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[18] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[cobham1-19] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[cobham2-20] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[21] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[22] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[horns-23] Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

List of Level 42 members

Contents

Members

Current

Former

Touring

Session

Timeline

Lineups

References

External links

Navigation menu

List of Level 42 members

Members

Current

Former

Touring

Session

Timeline

Lineups

References

External links

Navigation menu

Search