Anthony Benedict Thompson
British singer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Anthony Benedict Thompson, known professionally as Tony Thompson and Darkboy, is a British singer. He sung in Benz, who had two UK top 40 singles, sung on Phats & Small's second album This Time Around, including on "Change", which charted at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart, and Four Story, who partook in Making Your Mind Up.
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Career
Anthony Benedict Thompson[1] joined Benz in 1993; his nickname in the band was Darkboy, and the other members were Tim Shade (Benjamin Balogun) and B.I.G. Ben (Benedict Ofoedu).[1] He and Balogun were old friends, and Balogun invited him to join after seeing him walking down the street.[2] Their first single was "Boom Rock Soul", a term used by Benz to describe their music; they used a December 1995 issue of Echoes to explain that Balogun contributed the "boom", or "the deep hip hop, the hard bass", while Ofoedu contributed the "rock", and Thompson contributed the "soul".[2] "Boom Rock Soul" charted at No. 62; subsequent singles "Urban City Girl", "Miss Parker", "If I Remember", and "On a Sun-Day" charted at numbers 31, 35, 59 and 73, respectively.[3]
In 1999, Thompson and Ofoedu provided vocals for Phats & Small's "Turn Around", "Feel Good", and "Tonite";[4] which charted at numbers 2, 7 and 11 on the UK Singles Chart, respectively.[5] He was promoted to main vocalist for their second album, This Time Around;[4] the song's title track charted at No. 15 on the UK Singles Chart,[5] and Thompson lip-synched to it on Top of the Pops.[6] He also sung on the track "Change",[7] which charted at No. 45 on the UK Singles Chart.[5] In late 2003, Thompson joined Four Story, a band formed by Ofoedu, Mark Brightman, and Rodney Williams, who had previously been in REDhill with Shane Lynch;[8] they took part in Making Your Mind Up, with the intention of representing the United Kingdom at the Eurovision Song Contest. They came fifth.[9] Thompson, Ofoedu and Phats & Small reunited for an appearance on stage in the 2015 NYE MarbsFest at the Brentwood Centre; he used a 2015 appearance on Phoenix FM that month to advertise the event to note that he had started his own fitness, nutrition and athletics company, and that he was an ex-cage fighter.[4]