Famed musician, vocalist and songwriter. Born Edward Anthony Ashton in Blackburn, he played with various bands, and was invited to join the Liverpool group, the "Remo Four" as an organist and vocalist. The group spent some time as the resident band at Hamburg's legendary Star club followed by a US tour accompanying The Beatles. They recorded some singles, their best work came in 1966 when they released their album "Smile." Before their break-up in 1968, they backed The Beatles' George Harrison on his album "Wonderwall." At this time Ashton formed a new group with Remo drummer Roy Dyke and bass player Kim Gardner. They called themselves Ashton, Gardner & Dyke. They recorded 3 albums before splitting in 1972. Their 1971 single "Resurrection Shuffle" reached no. 3 in the British singles charts and that was the closest they came to achieving pop stardom. Their music, all of which was composed by Ashton, was a unique fusion of both R&B and jazz and very innovative and ahead of its time. Their last recording together was a collaboration with Jon Lord on the soundtrack for a b-movie called "The Last Rebel" starring former football star Joe Namath. In the meantime, Ashton had appeared on Jon Lord's first solo album "Gemini Suite" in 1971. In 1973, Ashton joined the group Family for their last album and tour. In the summer of 1974, during a break in Deep Purple's busy touring schedule, Tony Ashton and Jon Lord recorded their album "First of the Big Bands." When Purple split, Jon Lord and Ian Paice found themselves with a lot of free time on their hands and a need to steer away from the hard rock scene. The logical step to take was to call on their old friend Tony Ashton. The result was the formation of Paice, Ashton, Lord (P.A.L.), a band rooted in funk, jazz and rock. The line-up was completed by future Whitesnake guitarist Bernie Marsden and bass player Paul Martinez. They recorded "Malice In Wonderland" in Munich and a nation-wide tour of the UK was set in motion. Unfortunately the tour was cancelled halfway because of big financial losses. The band broke up leaving Ashton without a record deal. After the break up of Paice Ashton Lord in 1977, he concentrated mainly on session work with artists like Chicken Shack and Wings in addition to writing music and jingles for TV and radio. Over the remaining years of his life he would continue to work as well as carrying out other projects, including painting. He died of cancer in May of 2001. Following his funeral at Golders Green on the 6th June, 2001 his ashes were later removed.