Although Parsons played keyboards and infrequently sang on his records, the Project was designed primarily as a forum for a revolving collection of vocalists and session players - among them Arthur Brown, ex- Zombie Colin Blunstone, Cockney Rebel's Steve Harley, the Hollies' Allan Clarke, and guitarist Ian Bairnson - to interpret and perform Parsons and Woolfson's conceptually linked, lushly synthesized music. Influenced by his work on Stewart's concept album Time Passages, Parsons decided to begin creating his own thematic records along with songwriter Eric Woolfson, he soon founded the Alan Parsons Project.

Parsons subsequently worked with Paul McCartney on several of Wings' earliest albums he also oversaw recordings from Al Stewart, Cockney Rebel, and Pilot, but solidified his reputation by working on Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Along with his 13 Grammy nominations, Parsons took home his first award in 2019 for Best Immersive Audio Album for the 35th Anniversary Edition of Eye in the Sky.īorn in Britain on December 20, 1948, he began his musical career as a staff engineer at EMI Studios, and first garnered significant industry exposure via his work on the Beatles' 1969 masterpiece Abbey Road. While the Project parted ways following 1987's Gaudi, Parsons continued to tour and release his own albums, including 1999's The Time Machine, 2004's A Valid Path, and 2022's From the New World. Parsons also continued to produce and engineer, contributing to albums by Pilot, Ambrosia, Paul McCartney, Al Stewart, and others. Borrowing conceptual sci-fi themes from writers like Isaac Asimov and exploring a hybridized blend of rock, classical, AM pop, and synth-based music, the Project helped define the sound of art and prog rock with albums like 1977's I Robot, 1980's The Turn of a Friendly Card, and 1982's Eye in the Sky the latter of which hit number seven on the Billboard 200.

He initially established himself in the studio working on notable albums by the Beatles and Pink Floyd before co-founding the Alan Parsons Project with instrumentalist/composer Eric Woolfson. Best known as the leader of the progressive art and soft rock 'project' that bears his name, Alan Parsons is also a highly regarded producer and engineer.

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