1982–1990: It Bites In 1982, when he was nineteen, Dunnery formed the rock band
It Bites (taking the role of lead singer and guitarist). The other members of the band were his Egremont school friends
Bob Dalton (drums, vocals) and
Dick Nolan (bass, vocals); plus
John Beck (keyboards, vocals) who came from Mirehouse, a suburb of
Whitehaven. Following a career playing the pub and youth club circuit the band temporarily split, with Dunnery moving to London. The band reformed when Dunnery convinced the other members to leave Egremont entirely and relocate to London in 1984. The quartet squatted a house in Peckham and wrote and rehearsed every day, eventually signing a record contract with
Virgin Records. It Bites released three studio albums, the debut
The Big Lad in the Windmill (1986), the critically-acclaimed
Once Around the World (1988) and the rock-oriented
Eat Me in St Louis (1989). There were three singles from each album, with the biggest
hit being "
Calling All The Heroes" in 1986. This was the second single from The Big Lad in the Windmill and reached No. 6 in the
UK Singles Chart after extensive radio play and TV coverage. The band gained a very loyal cult following due to the exceptional Once Around The World album and, arguably, their career peaked with a rapturous show at the Astoria in London in May 1988 to promote it.
It Bites split up in mid-1990 on the eve of recording their fourth studio album in Los Angeles. Commenting on the breakup, Dunnery said: "the band had come to the end. It was a natural process. We fell out over a few things, there wasn't one big issue or problem, it was daft little things. We had just drifted apart. It wasn't anyone's fault, but we split." Dunnery has since described
Welcome to the Wild Country as "having been recorded at a time when I didn't know who I was". Towards the end of his time in Los Angeles, Dunnery addressed his drugs and alcohol problems and cleaned up his lifestyle. He has subsequently been open about his problems with alcohol addiction and drug abuse during this period. In 1993, Dunnery returned to the UK and joined
Led Zeppelin singer
Robert Plant's live band, performing on several tracks on Plant's 1993 album
Fate of Nations and on the accompanying world tour. Regarding this period, Dunnery has commented. "I have a good relationship with (Plant) because I think I’m as spunky and aggressive as he’d like to be... He likes the way I go at [the instrument], so we always get on well. In those two or three years we spent together I got to do things I could never have done otherwise. Staying in big hotels, playing massive stadiums and flying first class, I went to the top of the hill. At that time it was the biggest guitar job in the world and for a while it was mine. It made me feel complete... I didn't apply for that job, which made me realise that I’m not very effective at strategies. I see others making plans and going from A to B and it makes me think, "Wow!" In my life I tend to get blown around in the wind, I end up in the most fantastic places that nobody could even imagine. I didn't want the job with Robert, I wasn't after it and there were five thousand guys that were, but they called me up and that was it. When things come into your life, embrace them, and when they leave, let them go – simple." Dunnery has also credited his time with Plant as "(giving) me an education in the blues". Dunnery then released
Fearless on
Atlantic Records in 1994, promoting the album with his first solo tour of the UK. The Glasgow date of the tour was recorded for a live album,
One Night in Sauchiehall Street, released in 1995.
1995–1999: New York and Vermont In 1995, Dunnery relocated to
New York City. His third studio album,
Tall Blonde Helicopter, was released on Atlantic that year. In 1996, Dunnery was approached to audition as lead singer for Genesis (although the position ultimately went to
Ray Wilson). Dunnery's next album, ''
Let's Go Do What Happens'', was released in 1998 on
Razor and Tie Records, initially only in the United States. During this period, Dunnery also played on
Lauryn Hill's 1998 debut album
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and
Carlos Santana's 1999 album
Supernatural. Dunnery went into semi-retirement as a musician later in 1998 and set up a new home in the
Vermont mountains where he devoted the next few years to breeding and training horses (for which he studied under
John Lyons, the "horse whisperer"
2000–2003: Return to music In 2000, inspired by watching a televised
Shakti concert, Dunnery later admitted he "realised there was still a musician in me, and that I had to be as true to that side of my character as I was being to the other sides." Dunnery toured the UK to promote
Man, accompanied by Matt Pegg on bass guitar. A live album –
Hometown 2001 – was recorded 14 June 2001 at the Whitehaven Civic Hall in Cumbria and released later the same year. During 2002, Dunnery played on and produced several albums released on Aquarian Nation. The first of these releases was
Chris Difford's ''I Didn't Get Where I Am,'' with whom Dunnery also toured to promote the album. This was followed by John & Wayne's debut
Nearly Killed Keith, and
Songs From the Mission of Hope, the debut album by
Stephen Harris. In 2003, Dunnery performed with fellow former
It Bites members John Beck, Dick Nolan and Bob Dalton at the
Union Chapel during the headline slot of an Aquarian Nation showcase. Dunnery and Beck performed 'Hunting The Whale' and Nolan and Dalton then joined them for 'Still Too Young To Remember'. The event was recorded and released on DVD as
Live at the Union Chapel the following year.
2004–2007 In 2005, Dunnery released
The Gulley Flats Boys, a more sedate and acoustic album than its predecessor, featuring next to no drum or percussion parts and sparse use of electric guitar. It was recorded by Dunnery with piano/keyboard player
David Sancious and Dorie Jackson on backing vocals. In 2005, Dunnery embarked on a "house concert" world tour, suggesting to fans that they book him to perform in their own homes for a paying audience, in a drug and alcohol-free environment. Dunnery continues to perform house concerts to this day. Although he didn't play on the Syn's "Reason and Ritual" single of October 2008, Dunnery was in the band for the US tour scheduled for spring 2009. Unfortunately, the tour was cancelled after six dates following Nardelli's return to the UK to pursue separate interests, with the band breaking up acrimoniously as a result after a final performance at Rosfest on 1 May 2009, recorded and eventually released as
The Syn Live Rosfest in 2015. Brett Kull would dismiss the project as having "bad organization, bad mojo, bad energy." Despite the Syn debacle, all members of the line-up (bar Nardelli) would continue to work with Dunnery. Kull, Brislin, Ramsey, Bishop and Jackson all appeared on Dunnery's next album ''
There's a Whole New World Out There'' (released on 3 October 2009) as part of his new group The New Progressives. Consisting of reworkings of It Bites and solo songs from across Dunnery's career (plus covers of songs by
Robert Plant,
Genesis,
David Sylvian and
Joy Division) the album also featured guest appearances from guitarists
Phil Campbell (
Motörhead), Simon Rogers (
Also Eden) and
Luke Machin (Maschine,
The Tangent), flute player
Theo Travis (
Soft Machine,
Gong, The Tangent) and – perhaps most surprisingly – Dunnery's own replacement in It Bites,
John Mitchell. The New Progressives toured the UK, American and Australia to promote the record, with various guests (from both on and off the record) appearing when available. In 2009,
Jem Godfrey (
Frost*) announced on the Frost* Forum that he and Dunnery had both contributed solos to the title track of
Big Big Train's upcoming album,
The Underfall Yard.
2011–2017 On 12 August 2011 Dunnery released the contemporary R'n'B-influenced
Made in Space. He supported the album with a tour of the UK, which featured himself and Dorie Jackson. He also announced that he would be recording a cover version of
Peter Gabriel's
The Rhythm of the Heat as part of Sonic Elements, a new "fantasy rock" band put together by
Dave Kerzner. In 2012 Dunnery made a guest appearance on
Steve Hackett's album
Genesis Revisited II, singing on two tracks – "Dancing With the Moonlit Knight" and "Supper's Ready" (the "As Sure As Eggs Is Eggs (Aching Men's Feet)" section) – as well as contributing additional guitar. Dunnery also made a guest appearance on Hackett's subsequent
Genesis Revisited tour, singing at the
Arcada Theater show in
St Charles, Illinois on 20 September 2013, and at the Scottish Rites Auditorium in
Collingswood, New Jersey. From late 2012 to autumn 2013 Dunnery recorded
Frankenstein Monster, a covers album featuring songs from his brother's former band
Necromandus. Regarding the album, Dunnery commented: "I must say that this has been one hell of a journey both emotionally and musically. I learned so much about my brother during the making of this album and so much about myself ... Listening back now as it comes into focus I am very pleased and proud of the results. We have kept very close to the originals, sometimes exact and where it need a little more musicality or space we were smart enough to add our own parts without ruining the song. I know exactly what Baz would have liked so I only added things I know he would have liked." In late 2013, Dunnery put together The Sensational Francis Dunnery Electric Band, which toured both Necromandus songs and songs from the Francis Dunnery back catalogue. In February 2016 Dunnery released
Vampires, the follow-up to ''There's a Whole New World Out There
. Like its predecessor, Vampires'' focused on material originally by It Bites – though rather than completely reworking the songs this album featured faithful arrangements recorded using smoother production (which Dunnery now favoured) than the original It Bites recordings. The album was also released as an instrumental-only version. In July 2016 Dunnery continued his tendency to rework, remix and re-release with
Return to the Wild Country, a re-recording of 1990's
Welcome to the Wild Country solo debut. This was followed in March 2017 by
Whole New World (a remix of ''There's a Whole New World Out There
) and a remix of Frankenstein Monster'' in May 2017.
2018–present In November 2021, Dunnery released his first album of fully original material for eleven years.
The Big Purple Castle was a download-only triple album with songs and audio snippets reflecting on Dunnery's past, his life in the music industry and his current philosophies. The three cover images of the album feature individual portraits of Dunnery, his daughter Elsie and son Frankie. In January 2022, Dunnery released the "winter remix" of
The Gulley Flats Boys in both vocal/instrumental and instrumental-only form. The mix featured new overdubs (bass guitar) and an improved sound to the original release, giving the songs "a new life, a new spring in their step" (according to Dunnery on his Bandcamp page). In July 2022, he released
Tall Blonde Helicopter Live, a remastered audio-only version of the live footage from the
Louder than Usual DVD, featuring a band with Brett Kull, Paul Ramsey and Jamie Bishop from his Syn/New Progressives era plus Erica Brilhart on keyboards. Wanting to challenge himself to alter his musical approach and find new dimensions to his guitar playing, Dunnery's next new project was a blues band and the touring and recording of a collection of original blues songs.
The Blues of Tombstone Dunnery Volume 1 was released on 17 October 2023. The Tombstone Dunnery band featured Paul Brown on bass guitar, Quint Starkie on rhythm guitar, Phil Beaumont on drums, Nigel Hopkins on keyboards, Neil Yates on brass and woodwind, and Deanne Blazey on backing vocals. Prior to the tour, Dunnery commented "I can't wait to just play with this band and play traditional blues. I can sit back and just be the musician. I've teamed up with some amazing musicians for the tour and the album. I just love
B. B. King, and his guitar playing is emotive, and from one note, a story can be told." During this period, Dunnery had also begun to revisit the music of It Bites more vigorously. He carried out a British tour with a band he referred to as "Francis Dunnery's It Bites", performing the original band's material. In addition to Dunnery, the band featured Brown, Quint Starkie (in a multi-instrumentalist role), second guitarist Luke Machin, keyboardist/singer Pete Jones and drummer Björn Fryklund. Following the band's UK tour in January 2023, Dunnery renamed from "Francis Dunnery's It Bites" to the more straightforward "It Bites FD". In September 2023, the double live album
Live from the Black Country was released (recorded in Wolverhampton during January of the same year); copies of the Blu-ray edition came with a bonus EP called
Raw, which featured acoustic versions of three vintage It Bites tracks with all of the instruments performed by Dunnery. In December 2023, Dunnery announced a new line-up of It Bites FD (himself, Brown, keyboard player Tony Turrell, drummer
Chad Wackerman and "atmospherics" player Dave McCracken). A short three-date UK tour in January 2024 was quickly followed by the release of a studio album called
Return to Natural, which had been recorded at the famous Rockfield Studios near Monmouth over a few days in mid-December 2023. In the first couple of months following the album release, seemingly unsatisfied with the original version Dunnery remixed
Return to Natural (twice) and issued these mixes for download from his Bandcamp page (alongside an instrumental version of the album).
Live And Natural, a film and audio recording of a gig from the January 2024 tour, was released in a blu ray / CD package early in 2025. Bonus content included a 90-minute documentary looking behind the scenes of the making of
Return To Natural. In December 2025, Dunnery announced the release of a new solo album, called ''England's Tales of the Council House Kid'', due for release on 15 January 2026. ==Musical style==