Martin Gore

Martin Lee Gore was born in London. His biological father was an African-American G.I. stationed in Britain. Gore was raised by his stepfather David Gore and biological mother Pamela, who both worked at the Ford of Britain motor plant in Dagenham. He believed his stepfather was his biological father until the age of 30, when he learned of his biological father. Gore later met his biological father in the American South. He shared a class with Andy "Fletch" Fletcher, Alison Moyet and Perry Bamonte. Gore left Nicholas Comprehensive after completing his A-levels in 1979 and took a job as a bank cashier. During evenings, weekends and any other spare time, he remained involved with Norman and the Worms. He became interested in electronic music upon hearing acts such as Kraftwerk, the Human League and OMD. He borrowed a Korg 700S from a friend, before purchasing a Yamaha CS5, his first synthesizer. Gore has two younger half-sisters, Karen, born in 1967, and Jacqueline, born in 1968. ==Depeche Mode==

In 1980, Gore reunited with classmate Andy Fletcher at the Van Gogh club. Fletcher recruited him into his band Composition of Sound, along with Vince Clarke. Soon the band drafted Dave Gahan to be the band's lead singer after hearing him sing "Heroes" by David Bowie. Gore is the band's keyboardist, guitarist on several songs, contributes backing vocals, When explaining the band's choice for their name, 'Depeche Mode' (which was taken from French fashion magazine Dépêche Mode), Gore said, "It means 'hurried fashion' or 'fashion dispatch'. I like the sound of that." However, the magazine's name (and hence the band's) correctly translates to something like "Fashion News" or "Fashion Update". Gore wrote two tracks on Depeche Mode's debut album, Speak & Spell: "Tora! Tora! Tora!" and the instrumental "Big Muff". "Any Second Now (Voices)" features Gore's first lead vocals for the band. Gore sometimes plays guitar (typically his Gretsch White Falcon or Gretsch Double Anniversary) on Depeche Mode songs. The first time guitar was used as the main instrument was on "Personal Jesus", although he used small guitar parts on previous songs, such as "Behind the Wheel" and "Love, in Itself". Gore's guitar playing developed even more on Songs of Faith and Devotion. In live performances, he switches his keyboards for his guitar on some older Depeche Mode songs, such as "Never Let Me Down Again" and "A Question of Time". In mid-1990, Gore said, "I think in a way we've been at the forefront of new music; sort of chipping away at the standard rock format stations." ==Other work==

Gore has released the following solo albums: Counterfeit EP (1989), Counterfeit² (2003), MG (2015) and The Third Chimpanzee (2021). He covered the song "Coming Back to You" for the Leonard Cohen tribute album Tower of Song: The Songs of Leonard Cohen (1995). VCMG Former Depeche Mode colleague Vince Clarke collaborated with Gore for the first time since 1981 as techno duo VCMG on an instrumental minimalist electronic dance album called Ssss, released on 12 March 2012. The first single, Spock, was originally released worldwide exclusively on Beatport on 30 November 2011. The second, Single Blip, was also released exclusively on Beatport on 20 February 2012, and the third one, Aftermaths, was released on 20 August 2012. MG In late February 2015, several teaser images were displayed on Gore's official Facebook page, citing a hashtag "MGxMG", which was later revealed to be a promotional tool for his new solo studio album, titled MG (named similarly to his previous collaborative album, VCMG, with Vince Clarke from 2012). In a news post on his official website and various social media on 2 March, this confirmation of his new studio album announced its release would be on 27 or 28 April and previewed a track, Europa Hymn, from the new album. == Electric Ladyboy studio ==

Gore has a personal studio in Santa Barbara with a sizeable collection of Euroracks, Moog and Erica synthesizers (among others), where he has recorded solo work and written music for Depeche Mode. == Awards ==

On 27 May 1999, Gore was presented with an award by Daniel Miller for "International Achievement" by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors at the 44th Ivor Novello Awards. In 2019, Gore received the Moog Innovation Award "for his many contributions to the exploration of sound in popular music". ==Personal life==

Gore lives in Santa Barbara, California. He started dating lingerie designer and model Suzanne Boisvert after meeting in Paris in 1989. They married in August 1994, had three children and divorced in 2006. Gore became a vegetarian for health and moral reasons (along with bandmate Alan Wilder) in 1983. He had stress-induced seizures during the band's 1993 Devotional Tour and publicly acknowledged his past alcoholism. During a break on the Devotional Tour in Denver, Colorado, he was arrested by local police and fined $50 for holding a loud party in his hotel room. Gore addressed his sexuality in a 2003 interview with the queer magazine Boyz, stating that he "always felt totally heterosexual". He believed that "everybody assumes that [he is] gay" because of his crossdressing fashion in the 1980s. He is a supporter of Arsenal Football Club. ==Discography==

Studio albums Extended plays Singles with VCMG • Ssss (Mute, 2012) Other appearances Remixes • 1994 Spirit Feel – "Rejoice" (Mystic Span mix) • 1995 Garbage – "Queer" (The Most Beautiful Woman in Town mix) • 1999 ON – "Soluble Words" (Sublingual remix) • 2003 Señor Coconut and His Orchestra – "Smooth Operator" (In-Disguise remix) • 2013 Diamond Version – "Get Yours" (Martin L. Gore remix) • 2022 Jean-Michel Jarre – "Brutalism Take 2" ==Sources==