Glenn Hughes (born 21 August 1951) is an English bassist and singer, best known for playing bass and performing vocals in funk rock band Trapeze and in the Mk. III and IV line-ups of Deep Purple, as well as briefly fronting Black Sabbath in the mid-1980s. He is known by fans as "The Voice of Rock" due to his soulful and wide-ranging singing voice. In addition to being an active session musician, Hughes also maintains a notable solo career. He currently fronts the supergroups Black Country Communion and The Dead Daisies, and fronted California Breed from 2013 to 2015. In 2016, Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple. Early life Hughes was born in Cannock, Staffordshire, England, on 21 August 1951. He fronted Finders Keepers in the 1960s as bassist/vocalist, as well as the British funk rock band Trapeze. Hughes was bassist and lead vocalist for the first three Trapeze albums, released between 1970 and 1972. He also credited with contributing guitar, piano and trombone to these albums. Career Deep Purple, Hughes and Thrall (1973-1982) Hughes was recruited to replace Roger Glover as bassist in Deep Purple in 1973, though he considered himself more a vocalist than a bassist. He was reportedly uninterested in the Deep Purple job until some of the other members proposed that Paul Rodgers of Free be brought in as co-lead vocalist. Although the recruitment of Rodgers fell through, Hughes had now become interested in the "two-lead-singer thing", and David Coverdale was later hired as Deep Purple's lead vocalist. The two would ultimately share lead vocal duties in the band for the next three albums, until the break-up of Deep Purple in 1976. Battling a severe cocaine addiction, Hughes then embarked on a solo career, releasing his first solo album in 1977, titled Play Me Out. In 2016, Hughes was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Deep Purple. In 1982, he joined with ex-Pat Travers guitarist Pat Thrall to form Hughes/Thrall, and they released one self-titled album which went virtually unnoticed at the time. Part of the reason for the album's obscurity was the inability to support it with a proper tour, due to both parties suffering from drug addiction. As Hughes stated in a 2007 interview, "The Hughes-Thrall album was a brilliant, brilliant album, but we only did