Gilbert O’Sullivan is one of the UK’s most successful singers,
songwriters and musicians, selling over 15 million albums and
singles. To celebrate an amazing forty-five year recording career,
Union Square Music will be releasing ‘The Very Best Of Gilbert
O’Sullivan’ on 5th March 2012.

Part of a major Gilbert O’Sullivan reissue campaign the album
chronicles songs from his debut album, ‘Himself’ in 1971, through
to his most recent album ‘Gilbertville’ and features no less than
14 top 10 UK hits, including the multi-million selling US charttopper
and Grammy-nominated ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’ and
the unforgettable UK number 1 singles ‘Clair’ and ‘Get Down’, the
latter of which won him an Ivor Novello Award in 1973 for Most
Performed British Song.
Gilbert’s first two albums, ‘Himself’ and ‘Back To Front’ both
stayed in the UK chart for over a year (86 and 64 weeks
respectively) and in 1972 Gilbert was the biggest selling UK artist
in the world. The incredible success of ‘Alone Again (Naturally)’
in America catapulted Gilbert into stardom and he made several
appearance on US shows hosted by music legends such as Dean
Martin and Burt Bacharach.
Gilbert’s songs have appeared in TV series including The
Simpsons and Life On Mars and in films such as The Virgin
Suicides, Stuart Little 2, Margot At The Wedding and Stuck On
You. His songs have been covered by acts as diverse as Elton
John, Bobby Darin, The Feeling, Nina Simone, Har Mar Superstar,
Sarah Vaughan, Andy Williams, The Pet Shop Boys, Shirley
Bassey, Tom Jones, and Herb Alpert, and at a recent live show in
Dublin Morrissey performed a version of ‘Nothing Rhymed’ .
‘Nothing Rhymed’ was also name-checked by Richard Curtis,
who on accepting a Bafta for Comic Relief, recited the following
lyrics as a motivating factor behind his setting up of the charity:
‘When I’m drinking my Bonaparte Shandy, eating more than enough apple
pies, will I glance at my screen and see real human beings starve to death
right in front of my eyes?’ Then he added in his own words ‘Eat your
heart out, Bob Dylan!’
More recently ‘Gilbertville’, which was released in January 2011,
was hailed as one of his finest albums to date, which led critics
and the media to suggest maybe it was time to revisit O’Sullivan’s
career for re-appraisal.

‘Smart kitchen-sink lyrics, super melodic songs, his new stuff just as good as
his old; if he’d never had a hit, or worn an oversize flat cap, he’d be hailed as
our own Randy Newman – one who references tea (frequently) and frozen
peas (occasionally). At his best, he is the missing link between the Kinks and
Squeeze’ - The Guardian