Albert Hammond at 80: 'Music heals everyone. Music heals the world'

His songs are better-known than his name: Albert Hammond is one of the most successful composers in the history of pop music, and he's also had considerable success as a singer. He sang his own top hits like "It Never Rains in Southern California" and "The Free Electric Band" while also writing world chart-toppers for others such as "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" and "One Moment In Time."

Many of Hammond's songs have become earworms for all eternity. On May 18 the London-born singer-songwriter turns 80 - and after a long break, he is writing songs again.

Meeting dpa for an interview in London, the lines in his face attest to his nearly 60 years in the music business. His grey hair is tied in a ponytail. His left ear sports a glittering earring.

"I went through some rough times in the last seven, eight years, and everything was heavy on my shoulders," Hammond said. "And I thought I started to get creative. I looked to music to heal me. In a way, it did, or it has, like it always did."

His remarks refer to the sudden separation from his second wife Claudia in 2016. They have a son, Albert Hammond junior, a guitarist for the rockband The Strokes. But the divorce for Hammond, who also has two daughters from his first marriage, hit him hard, as would some serious health issues.

"I didn't expect it. It's just one of those things that happens. I thought it was forever," he says of the marriage to Claudia. "And then the pandemic came and then I got three vaccines or two and a booster, whatever they called it. And then I got an autoimmune disease that I have. And it's not a nice thing to have because every now and then it flares up and you feel terrible and then it kind of frightens you in a way because you have pains here and there and you go, I can't move this, I can't move that."

The musician has not yet completely recovered, but his health is steadily improving. Psychologically, the return to music has had its hoped-for effect - it has healed him, "like it always has," Hammond says, visibly looking happier. "I think music heals everyone. I think music heals the world." And the passion for his craft is clearly felt. Hammond feels that music, and his songwriting talent, were in his blood since his birth.

"I don't think I had to learn it because I'm not a very good musician," Hammond said, looking back at how he started. "I learned three chords when I was young because I wanted to play buddy Holly songs. I was never one of those who practised five hours a day or anything like that. I was too free and too mischievous as a child. I wanted adventure."

During World War II, Hammond's parents moved from Gibraltar to London, but they returned later, with their young son Albert. Gibraltar is where he grew up. Today, the British musician has a residence there, while he also has a home in Los Angeles and has US citizenship.

In Gibraltar, young Albert Hammond began his career with a band called The Diamond Boys. Later, he began to gain attention in a pop group called The Family Dog. A young Elton John, musicians from the rock group Led Zeppelin and pop singer Ireen Sheer also took part in the recording sessions. "There I was with these incredible musicians that. What a joy!"

But it was only after moving to the United States in the early 1970s that Hammond's music career would take off. In 1972 he issued his first solo single titled "Down By The River" and then came the world hit "It Never Rains In Southern California." He followed this up with other popular singles as "The Free Electric Band," "I'm A Train" and "99 Miles From L.A."

At the same time, he was making a name for himself composing songs for other artists. With "The Air That I Breathe" co-written by Mike Hazlewood - The Hollies had a world charts hit in 1974. Hammond admits to a bit of coincidental luck with that one. "The chords on 'The Air That I Breathe' were unusual then," he noted.

But at the time he was aware that he had composed something special. And his methods haven't changed ever since. "I just put my hand somewhere on the guitar and if it sounds good, I try to remember where I put my fingers," he says with a laugh. And it worked. Hammond wrote - usually in collaboration with other artists - songs for Celine Dion, Chris de Burgh, Diana Ross and Julio Iglesias.

But the list doesn't stop there: "Nothing's Gonna Stop Us Now" became a Number-One hit for Starship in the US, Britain and a number of other countries. Then there was the Olympics hymn "One Moment In Time" unforgettably sung by Whitney Houston and likewise a chart-topper. For Leo Sayers he composed one of his best-known numbers, "When I Need You."

Soon followed "Don't Turn Around" which was originally written for Tina Turner but later would become a hit record for both the British reggae band Aswad and the Swedish pop group Ace of Base. Bonnie Tyler and Neil Diamond also covered the song. In fact, over and over again Hammond's songs get covered by many stars.

All told, Hammond's songlist comes to around 1,000 numbers. "It's hard to explain. It just comes," he says about songwriting. "I know when it comes because I start to feel it and I don't just sit down when I start to feel it, I just let it keep coming. And then when it seems like I'm so full that I want to explode. And then many things happen in days or weeks or months sometimes, and you don't stop."

In Spain and Latin America the British artist is very popular for his songs rendered in Spanish, while his most faithful fan base is arguably in Germany. Hammond said he was thrilled to be performing live once again. His health permitting, he would like to again go on an extensive tour.

But his priorities are clearly defined. "I personally think I'm a better songwriter than a performer. I don't know. I've never really liked my voice very much. But I think there's a lot of us that are that way. Creative people are kind of insecure people. We need someone to tell us that something is good. Otherwise, we don't really know."