The group disbanded in 1989, after their final studio album, Heart Like a Sky, failed to live up to the critical and commercial success of their earlier albums, such as True and Parade. As a matter of fact, Heart Like a Sky was not even released in the United States. In April 1999, Hadley along with fellow band members Steve Norman and John Keeble failed in their attempt to sue Gary Kemp for a share of his royalties, as the band's principal songwriter (recently, however, Norman is again on good terms with Gary and his brother, Martin Kemp, who used to play guitar in the band, which makes a possible reunion less difficult).
After Spandau Ballet disbanded, Hadley pursued a solo career, with considerably less success, signing to EMI and recording his first album, The State of Play, in 1992. After leaving EMI, Hadley formed his own record company, SlipStream Records, and his first release was to be the single "Build Me Up", from the film "When Saturday Comes". Shortly after that, in December 1996, Hadley embarked on an orchestral tour of Europe, along with Joe Cocker, Paul Michiels, Dani Klein and Guo Yue, playing to 500,000 people in six weeks.
On his return from that tour, Hadley signed a joint deal with PolyGram TV, and released his next eponymous solo album, Tony Hadley, in 1997, which included covers and songs that were chosen to match his voice. The album also featured some of his own self-penned songs, such as "She", the song that Hadley wrote for his daughter, Toni. He is the father of four children: Thomas, Toni, and Mackenzie by his wife, Leonie, and Zara (born 21 December 2006) by his current girlfriend, Alison Evers. Hadley split from Leonie in 2003, after twenty years of marriage.
To plug the gap between studio albums, Hadley also released a live album, in 1995, recorded, in just one night, at the club Ronnie Scott's, in Birmingham, called Obsession (later on re-released as Obsession Live).
He also collaborated, in the past and present, with various dance acts and DJs, such as Tin Tin Out, Eddie Lock, Marc et Claude, Regi Penxten (Milk Inc.) and the Disco Bros., and played alongside musicians such as Alice Cooper, Paul Young, Jon Anderson, and Brian May. Hadley's permanent band line up nowadays features John Keeble (drums), Phil Taylor (keyboards), Phil Williams (bass guitar), Richie Barrett (guitar), and Angie Grant on backing vocals. His early band, with whom he realized his debut album, included instead, besides he and Keeble, Spandau Ballet's regular keyboard player Toby Chapman, Jerry Stevenson (guitar), and Kevin Miller (bass guitar).
Hadley was also the subject of some newfound respect in the 2000s, rooted in an "ironic" appreciation for his old group Spandau Ballet; John Darnielle of the indie folk rock group The Mountain Goats wrote about his admiration for Hadley's vocal strengths. In 2000, his very first solo greatest hits album was issued, entitled Debut, made up of some early solo songs, performed live in Germany in 1992, as broadcast by German TV.
In 2003, Hadley was the winner of the ITV reality television series, "Reborn in the USA", appearing alongside other ex band singers, such as Elkie Brooks from Vinegar Joe, Peter Cox from Go West and Leee John from Imagination. Capitalizing on his victory of the American reality show, his Debut compilation was re-issued, and his second collection was also released in the same year, True Ballads, including some of his solo tracks, most of the cover songs which were already contained in his second studio album, and historical hits from the Spandau Ballet period.
Hadley recently had a busy performing schedule, and also recently toured with both Peter Cox from Go West and Martin Fry from the band ABC. He released a jazz-swing album 2006, entitled Passing Strangers, and travelled on a "by request" tour from March to May 2006. This was followed by a big band tour in late the same year.
In January 2007, Hadley performed in the West End musical "Chicago" as crooked lawyer Billy Flynn, at the Cambridge Theatre. Hadley took over from ex-Emmerdale actor Ian Kelsey, and featured from 29 January to 14 April 2007. He said: "Three months was long enough, I didn't want to out stay my welcome. I got a phone call offering me the part. I went to see the show, which I thought was great. While I was in it, I got great reviews. Chicago tied in with my swing album, Passing Strangers, so the whole thing worked well."
Hadley stated on the television show "Loose Women" (22 February 2007) that he is 6'4" and 17½ stone.[1]. He has a new role as radio presenter with Virgin Radio, taking over the "Friday Night Virgin Party Classics" show from Suggs (of the band Madness), in August 2007. In January 2008, Tony was given the "Saturday Night Virgin Party Classics" show as well.
Hadley performed a set with other 1980s acts, at "Retro Fest", on 1 September 2007, at Culzean Castle, in Ayrshire, Scotland. This appearance included a rendition of "Addicted to Love", with Martin Fry of ABC and Peter Cox of Go West. In February 2008, he took part to the Italian Sanremo Festival, where he dueted, either in English and Italian, with young contestant Paolo Meneguzzi, on a song by the latter called "Grande" (meaning 'great'), during the third day of the contest (where all contestants re-interpreted their songs with guest artists).
On February 22nd, 2008, he performed in show program on semi-final evening of Dora, Croatian national selection of the Croatian song for Eurovision Song Contest.
Tony has shot his scenes for the forthcoming UK movie 'Shoot The DJ' which is due for completion in December 2008. He plays Eddie Richards. The film features the acts Sonic Hub and The Long Firm and is being produced by Sonic-Hub Films, part of Sonic-Hub Records.
He also made an appearance, sung, and gave advice and words of wisdom in Pinoy Dream Academy (season 2),a singing reality show in the Philippines.
In 2009 he joined the rest of his former bandmates in reformation of Spandau Ballet.
I Can't Make You Love Me
Tony Hadley Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Turn down these voices inside my head
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
Just hold me close, don't patronize
Don't patronize me
'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
I will lay down my heart, and I'll feel the power
But you won't, no you won't
And I can't make you love me
If you don't
I'll close my eyes and then I won't see
The love you do not feel, when you're holding me
Morning will come, and I'll do what's right
Just give me till then, to give up this fight
And I will give up this fight
And I can't make you love me if you don't
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
And here in the dark, in these final hours
I will lay down my heart, I'll feel the power
But you won't, no, you won't
And I can't make you love me
If you don't
Ain't no use in you trying
It's no good for me baby without love
All my tears, all these years, everything I believed in
Baby
Oh yeah
Someone's gonna love me
The lyrics of the song "I Can't Make You Love Me" by Tony Hadley speak about the painful reality of unrequited love. The singer is desperately trying to stop the voices in their head and searching for comfort in the arms of the person they love. However, they realize that they cannot force someone to love them if they don't feel the same way. The lyrics talk about the powerlessness that comes with loving someone who doesn't love you back and how the singer is willing to accept this fact and move on. The song is a melancholic and heartbreaking portrayal of the pain that comes with unrequited love.
The use of words like "lay down my heart", "give up this fight", and "powerlessness" shows how the singer is in a state of vulnerability and is struggling to come to terms with the situation. The emotions conveyed in the song are universal and relatable, which is one of the reasons why the song has resonated with so many people.
Line by Line Meaning
Turn down the lights, turn down the bed
I want to set the mood for love by dimming the lights and making the bed comfortable.
Turn down these voices inside my head
The voices inside my head represent my doubts and fears, and I want them to quiet down so that I can focus on the moment with you.
Lay down with me, tell me no lies
I want you to be honest with me and share a moment of intimacy by lying down with me.
Just hold me close, don't patronize
I don't want to feel like you're just going through the motions, I want you to hold me close with genuine affection.
Don't patronize me
I don't want you to treat me like a child, I want you to treat me with respect and honesty.
'Cause I can't make you love me if you don't
Love cannot be forced, it is a feeling that has to come naturally.
You can't make your heart feel something it won't
It is impossible to force yourself to feel something that is not there.
Here in the dark, in these final hours
The darkness represents the uncertainty of the moment, and the final hours represent the last chance to make things work.
I will lay down my heart, and I'll feel the power
I am giving all of myself to this moment, hoping that it will make a difference in your feelings for me.
But you won't, no you won't
Despite my efforts, you still won't love me.
And I can't make you love me
I am powerless to make you feel something that is not there.
If you don't
If you don't love me, it is something that cannot be changed.
I'll close my eyes and then I won't see
Closing my eyes is a way to escape reality and pretend that you love me, even if just for a moment.
The love you do not feel, when you're holding me
Despite physical closeness, the emotional connection is not there.
Morning will come, and I'll do what's right
When the night is over, I will have to face the reality that you don't love me and move on.
Just give me till then, to give up this fight
I need a little more time to come to terms with the fact that our love is not meant to be.
And I will give up this fight
I will stop trying to make you love me because it is futile.
Ain't no use in you trying
It's no use for you to try to force feelings that are not there.
It's no good for me baby without love
Love is a fundamental component of a relationship, and without it, the relationship will not work for me.
All my tears, all these years, everything I believed in
All the emotions and time I have invested in this relationship cannot make up for the lack of love.
Someone's gonna love me
Despite the pain of this moment, I have faith that there is someone out there who will love me the way I deserve to be loved.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Unison Rights S.L., AMPLIFIED ADMINISTRATION, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Allen Shamblin, Michael Reid
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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