His name has been linked with some of the greatest music legends of all time.
Yet singer and songwriter Gilbert O'Sullivan, unlike the icons he was often compared to, was far from a household name.
Despite that reality, O'Sullivan managed to receive much praise for many of his songs including the hits Clair, Get Down and Alone Again which came out in the 1970s.
Long before they hit the charts, O'Sullivan was working with musicians like Rick Davies who later became a member of the internationally renowned band Supertramp. It was during this time he wrote his first song Ready Miss Steady and signed a five-year contract with CBS.
The contract did not stop O'Sullivan though from sending a demo tape to Tom Jones' manager Gordon Mills who liked what he heard and signed him with his label MAM records. Mills went to work reshaping him as well, starting with a name change. Gilbert O'Sullivan was the result of putting together the origins of his name and the popular attraction of Gilbert and Sullivan. He suggested style changes as well, something that went more with the times.
With a new look down and new name to boot, O'Sullivan was ready for the whole packaged deal and hit his career prime in the 1970s with getting his songs into the top 10 charts. For five years, O'Sullivan was at the height of his game, releasing one hit single after another and even four top 10 albums that included Himself, Back To Front, I'm a Writer not a Fighter and a Stranger in my Own Back Yard. The husband and father of two kept a low profile in the following decade but did release two albums with CBS.
In 2001, he played a series of concerts in Ireland and the following year, in the UK, to promote his Irish album.
Today he continues to record and perform.