Roland Gift Net Worth

What is Roland Gift's net worth?

Roland Gift is a British singer and actor who has a net worth of $2 million.

Roland Gift is a British singer, songwriter, and actor who has a net worth of $2 million. Roland Gift rose to fame as the lead singer of the pop-rock band Fine Young Cannibals. In 1989, the band had two singles that topped the Billboard Hot 100: "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing." As an actor, Gift has appeared in such films as "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid" and "Scandal," and on television in "Highlander: The Series" and "Painted Lady."

Early Life and Education

Roland Gift was born on May 28, 1961 in Birmingham, England to an English mother and an Afro-Caribbean father. As a youth, he attended Anderton Park School and Arden Primary School. He then moved with his family to Hull, where he attended Kelvin Hall School and the Hull School of Art.

Akrylykz

Gift's first band was the ska band Akrylykz, which he formed with some other students at the Hull School of Art in late 1978. He began as a tenor saxophonist before becoming the band's frontman and lead singer. In 1980, Akrylykz released the singles "Spyderman," "Smart Boy," and "JD," and toured extensively. The band also did sessions for Desmond Dekker's album "Black and Dekker."

(Photo by Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images)

Fine Young Cannibals

In 1985, Gift was chosen by guitarist Andy Cox and bassist David Steele to join their band Fine Young Cannibals, which they had formed the previous year. The name of the band was derived from the 1960 film "All the Fine Young Cannibals." With Gift as the lead singer, the band released its self-titled debut album at the end of 1985. The album launched two top-10 hit singles in the UK: "Johnny Come Home" and a cover of Elvis Presley's "Suspicious Minds." Fine Young Cannibals scored another top-10 UK hit with their cover of the Buzzcocks song "Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've)," which was featured in Jonathan Demme's 1986 film "Something Wild." The year after that, the band appeared in and contributed to the soundtrack of Barry Levinson's film "Tin Men."

Fine Young Cannibals had their biggest commercial success with their second and final studio album, "The Raw & the Cooked," which came out in early 1989. Peaking at number one in several countries, including the UK, the US, and Canada, the album spawned the hit singles "She Drives Me Crazy" and "Good Thing," both of which reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. "The Raw & the Cooked" went on to earn a Grammy Award nomination for Album of the Year, while "She Drives Me Crazy" received nominations for Record of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Fine Young Cannibals disbanded in 1992, but returned briefly in 1996 to record the single "The Flame" for their greatest hits album "The Finest."

(Photo by Lorne Thomson/Redferns)

Solo Music Career

As a solo artist, Gift released his first and only studio album, a self-titled album, in 2002. Its lead single was "It's Only Money." At the end of the decade, Gift released the non-album single "Crushed." He has also done live performances as a solo artist, including at the Rewind Festival and on the BBC Two show "Jools' Annual Hootenanny."

Acting Career

Gift made his professional acting debut in 1987, playing a young revolutionary in Stephen Frears's romantic dramedy "Sammy and Rosie Get Laid." Also that year, he had a small part in "Out of Order." In 1989, Gift portrayed real-life jazz promoter Johnny Edgecombe in the historical drama "Scandal," about the Profumo affair. He subsequently began acting on stage in 1990, playing Romeo in a production of "Romeo and Juliet" at Hull Truck Theatre. Turning to television, Gift played Xavier St. Cloud in five episodes of "Highlander: The Series," with his first appearance coming in late 1992. The following year, he was in an episode of the police procedural series "Heartbeat." Gift later appeared in the miniseries "Painted Lady" and the film "The Island of the Mapmaker's Wife." He also acted on BBC Radio 4 in the musical drama "Return to Vegas," which he wrote and composed music for. On the show, which premiered in 2020, Gift starred as a former pop star fallen on hard times.

Personal Life

Gift was previously married to his wife Louise, who passed away from cancer in 2019. He has two children.

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