Start of America

In 1967, Beckley's father became the commander at the United States Air Force base at West Ruislip, near London. Gerry attended London Central High School in Bushey, Hertfordshire, where he played in various school bands and met his soon-to-be bandmates, Dewey Bunnell and Dan Peek. Originally, the group played on Friday nights at the local American teen club, mostly doing acoustic covers of Crosby Stills and Nash tunes. The original drummer was a classmate, Dave Atwood.

America got a recording contract with the British division of Warner Bros. Records and found success in 1972 with "A Horse with No Name."

Beckley wrote and sang America's 1972 top ten hit "I Need You" and its 1975 number one hit "Sister Golden Hair" (also number one on Billboard, in 1975) as well as its top 20 followup "Daisy Jane." He also sang their 80's top ten hit "You Can Do Magic."

Beckley continues to write and record music both as a solo artist and with other musicians along with Bunnell. With Bunnell, Beckley continues touring worldwide as "America".

Solo projects

Beckley, Andrew Gold, and Timothy B. Schmidt sang as "Baldwin and the Whiffles", performing "Mr. Sandman", "The Naughty Lady of Shady Lane", and "Sh-Boom", in the 1990 John Waters film Cry-Baby.

Beckley has worked with a wide variety of musicians on many projects. One of the most notable is the 2001 recording Like a Brother, performed with Carl Wilson of The Beach Boys, and Robert Lamm of Chicago.

In May 2006, Beckley released another solo album Horizontal Fall.

In March 2007, Beckley appeared as a guest on the Australian musical quiz TV show Spicks and Specks.

On April 14, 2007, Beckley appeared as a special guest at a Ben Kweller show at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne, Australia. Beckley, Kweller, and the band performed Sister Golden Hair together.

Beckley is also a member of Les Deux Love Orchestra.

Personal life

Beckley is currently married to Kathy Beckley. He has two sons, Matthew and Joe. Matthew is also a musician; he has toured with Katy Perry and has worked with other artists, such as Ke$ha, Britney Spears, and others. Joe is an aspiring photographer in the Los Angeles area. Beckley now splits his time between homes in Venice, CA and Sydney, Australia. He has a child from a previous marriage to Eleanor Beckley.

Discography

• Gerry Beckley Van Go Gan (1995)
• Gerry Beckley Go Man Go (2000)
• Beckley, Lamm & Wilson Like A Brother (2000)
• Gerry Beckley Horizontal Fall (2006)
• Gerry Beckley Happy Hour (2009)
• Gerry Beckley Unfortunate Casino (2011)

Sessions (selection)

• Mike Hugg Somewhere (1972)
• Dan Fogelberg Souvenirs (1974)
• David Cassidy Home Is Where The Heart Is (1976)
• Ricci Martin Beached (1977)
• Rick Danko Rick Danko (1977)
• Dennis Wilson Pacific Ocean Blue (1977)
• Dave Mason Mariposa De Oro (1978)
• Jimmy Webb Angel Heart (1982)
• Various Artists Cry Baby - Original Soundtrack (1990)
• Modern Folk Quartet Highway 70 (1995)
• Various Artists For The Love of Harry - Everybody Sings Nilsson (1995)
• Robert Lamm In My Head (1999)
• Jeff Larson Room for the Summer (2000)
• Jeffrey Foskett Twelve And Twelve (2000)
• Les Deux Love Orchestra Music From Les Deux Cafés (2001)
• Jeff Larson Fragile Sunrise (2002)
• Low Trust (2002)
• Robert Lamm Subtlety And Passion (2003)
• Jeff Larson Sepia (2004)
• Low Great Destroyer (2005)
• Les Deux Love Orchestra King Kong (2005)
• Brian Wilson a.o. One World Project (2005)
• Bill Mumy With Big Ideas (2006)
• Les Deux Love Orchestra Ecstasy (2008)
• Al Jardine A Postcard From California (2009)
• Jeff Larson Heart of the Valley (2009)
• Les Deux Love Orchestra Planet Claire 3D Maxi-Single (2009)
• Nick Vernier Band Sessions (2010)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]