Robert Palmer

Robert Palmer was best known as the smoothie who monopolized MTV in the 1980s, crooning "Addicted to Love" before a backdrop of guitar-wielding models, though he had far more substance than that image would suggest. The British soulster began in an English R&B outfit called Vinegar Joe before going solo in the mid-1970s. His early albums found him backed by the Meters and Little Feat, churning out striking versions of reggae and R&B classics. By the turn of the decade, he'd rocked up his sound, added sleek synths, and taken to covering Gary Numan. Until his death in 2003, soul and style were Palmer's watchwords.

• rock
• pop
• pop rock
• 1970s
• 1990s
• 1980s