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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.

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.

History

1980–1983: Formation

Frankie Goes to Hollywood formed in Liverpool in 1980. The lead singer, Holly Johnson, had previously played in Big in Japan and had released some unsuccessful solo singles. He formed the first version of Frankie Goes to Hollywood with musicians including Ambrose Reynolds, but the group soon split. The name came from an advertisement announcing Frank Sinatra's film debut.

In 1982, Johnson restarted Frankie Goes to Hollywood with Peter Gill (drums) and the brothers Mark (bass) and Jed O'Toole (guitar). Jed left before 1983, and was replaced by his cousin, Brian Nash. Within the band, O'Toole, Nash and Gill constituted a group known as the Lads. Frankie Goes to Hollywood played their first gig at a Liverpool pub, Pickwick's, where they recruited the dancer and backing singer Paul Rutherford.

Nash said the band admired the Liverpool groups Echo & the Bunnymen, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark and the Teardrop Explodes: "That was music from Liverpool but from our generation. You would see these people walking around town, you'd see Ian McCulloch getting on the bus. I never saw any of the Beatles on the bus." Johnson said he wanted the band to be provocative and modern, merging punk and disco, and was inspired by the media impact of bands such as the Sex Pistols and Bow Wow Wow.

1983–1984: "Relax", "Two Tribes" and success

In February 1983, Frankie Goes to Hollywood performed on the Channel 4 show The Tube, dressed in fetish wear. Johnson said the "extreme" look was a means of attracting industry attention, but that many labels were afraid to sign them. That May, Frankie Goes to Hollywood became the first act signed by ZTT Records, a new record label co-founded by the producer Trevor Horn. Horn admired the "dangerous" sexuality of their music. Johnson said they turned down an offer from Beggars Banquet Records as they wanted to work with Horn.

"Relax" was selected as the first single. After recording several versions, Horn created a dramatically different arrangement without the band, using electronic instruments such as a drum machine and the Fairlight, an early sampling synthesiser. It was released in October 1983, backed by a music video set in an S&M club. Sound on Sound described it as a "hi-NRG brand of dance-synth-pop" that "broke new sonic ground, while epitomising '80s excess in all its garish, overblown glory". Initial sales were slow, but rose after the band performed on the BBC series Top of the Pops the following January. Soon after, the BBC banned "Relax" from its broadcasts, deeming it obscene. The ban created publicity, associating Frankie Goes to Hollywood with youth rebellion. Within two weeks, "Relax" reached number one on the UK singles chart and stayed there for five weeks, and the BBC was forced to reverse its ban. "Relax" won the 1985 Brit Award for Best British Single.