John Parr has long been one of the top musicians in the UK and he has had multiple top 40 hits in the US.  He joined Chad on The Morning Sports Page Wednesday to talk about his musical career.

Parr got his first start in music as a member of the group “The Silence” at age 12.  His dad managed the band that included him and two of his classmates.  The group travelled around in an old Army ambulance that was converted into a tour bus.  By the time he left school at age 15, the band had done more than 150,000 miles in tours all over Europe.

Parr went into detail about his new album, “The Mission.”  He claims the album was inspired by those who serve and protect in the military because he has such great respect for those who fight for their countries.  He insists that the album is written from multiple different perspectives including: enlisted warriors, brothers, sisters and other family members.  Parr states that the album is the easiest album he has ever put together – It only took him about five or six days to write the entire album.

Parr also spoke about his most famous hit single, St. Elmo’s Fire.  Although the song was in part written for the movie with the same title, it was inspired by a wheelchair athlete by the name of Rick Hansen who was trying to circumnavigate the globe.  He asserts that passion like that makes for great inspiration.

Take a listen as Parr talks about his favorite musicians and his first big break in music, and be sure to check out his new album “The Mission” in stores.