Chris Foreman

{{Short description|English musician, singer-songwriter, and composer}} {{EngvarB|date=September 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}} {{For|the Chicago organist|Chris Foreman (organist)}} {{Infobox musical artist | image = Chris Foreman with Madness..JPG | caption = Foreman performing live with Madness at Manchester Arena, in 2014 | alias = Chrissy Boy | birth_name = Christopher John Foreman | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1956|08|8}} | birth_place = St Pancras, London, England | genre = {{hlist|Ska|pop|new wave}} 2-tone | occupation = {{hlist|Musician|songwriter|composer}} | instrument = Guitar | years_active = 1976–present | label = | current_member_of = Madness | past_member_of = The Madness, The Nutty Boys/Crunch! | website = }}

'''Christopher John Foreman''' (born 8 August 1956),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://madness7.comuv.com/bio_chrissy.html |title=Camden Town – Chrissy Boy |website=Madness7.comuv.com |access-date=19 June 2013}}</ref> nicknamed '''Chrissy Boy''', is an English musician, songwriter, and composer. In a career spanning more than 45 years, Foreman came to prominence in the late 1970s as the guitarist for the English band Madness.

==Early life== Christopher John Foreman was born on 8 August 1956, in St Pancras, London, England. His father John Foreman,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Sheldon |first=Dyan |date=2024-08-08 |title=John Foreman obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/article/2024/aug/08/john-foreman-obituary |access-date=2024-10-11 |newspaper=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Facebook |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/1090389172139426/?ref=share |access-date=2024-10-11 |website=Facebook.com}}</ref> known on the folk-scene as a music hall revivalist,<ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07kpy3v A Day with a Music Hall Master] BBC Radio</ref> attempted to teach him to play guitar as a child, but he could not maintain an interest. Foreman bought a cheap second-hand guitar when he was 20 and became more enthusiastic about the instrument when he began to learn chords. He then acquired a Fender Telecaster which he used whilst recording Madness' debut album.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.chrishunt.biz/features41.html |title=Chris Hunt | Chris Foreman of Madness interview |website=Chrishunt.biz |access-date=6 June 2014}}</ref>

==Music== === Madness === {{Main|Madness (band)}} Foreman started jamming with keyboardist Mike Barson, after bonding over their favourite artists.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1976 : Park Avenue South-Crouch End.Lee Thompson Chris Foreman and Mike Barson practise playing music for the first time|url=http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1976/text.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928002914/http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1976/text.htm |archive-date=2007-09-28 |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=Madness.co.uk}}</ref> Foreman and Barson then formed The North London Invanders with saxophonist Lee Thompson in 1976. After many band name and personnel changes, the group became Madness in 1979.

Foreman was one of the group's main songwriters, mostly writing music with other members, usually Suggs or Lee Thompson, providing the lyrics.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1976/text.htm |title=1976 |publisher=Madness official website |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081115030830/http://www.madness.co.uk/time/1976/text.htm |archive-date=15 November 2008}}</ref> Songs Foreman has co-written include "Baggy Trousers",<ref>{{cite web |title=Absolutely - Madness {{!}} Album |website=AllMusic |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/absolutely-mw0000236021 |access-date=2026-03-08 |language=en}}</ref> "Cardiac Arrest", "Our House", "Madness (Is All in the Mind)", "Yesterday's Men", and "Uncle Sam".

Foreman reunited with all seven original Madness members in 1992. In 2005 Foreman announced that he was leaving the band, citing "the petty, time consuming bollocks that goes on in the band" as his reason for leaving.<ref name="foremandeparture">Cohen, Jonathan. {{cite magazine |title=Madness Inks With V2, New Album In Works |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/62830/madness-inks-with-v2-new-album-in-works |access-date=12 July 2007 |magazine=Billboard}}</ref> However, on 30 November 2006, it was confirmed that Foreman was returning to play on Madness' forthcoming UK Christmas tour.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.robomod.net/pipermail/madness/2006-December/000370.html|title=[MIS] News and Information|access-date=11 November 2015|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031729/http://www.robomod.net/pipermail/madness/2006-December/000370.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Foreman stepped down from touring in August 2025 after his diagnoses with myeloma.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-08-29 |title=Madness guitarist Chris Foreman reveals incurable cancer diagnosis - and confirms future of the band |url=https://www.hellomagazine.com/celebrities/852910/madness-guitarist-chris-foreman-reveals-cancer-diagnosis/ |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=HELLO! |language=en}}</ref> He initially said he had "long way to go" before he could get back to touring again in August 2025, but expressed hope of achieving remission and returning to performing in 2026.<ref>{{cite web |last1=McLoughlin |first1=Lisa |title=Madness legend Chris Foreman reveals incurable cancer diagnosis |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/madness-chrissy-boy-cancer-diagnosis-b1245067.html |website=London Evening Standard |access-date=2 September 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250902101103/https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/madness-chrissy-boy-cancer-diagnosis-b1245067.html |archive-date=2 September 2025 |date=31 August 2025}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ahmed |first=Aneesa |date=2025-08-30 |title=Chris Foreman, Madness guitarist, reveals he has incurable blood cancer diagnosis |url=https://www.nme.com/news/music/chris-foreman-madness-guitarist-reveals-he-has-incurable-blood-cancer-diagnosis-3888864 |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=NME |language=en-GB}}</ref> During his time off, the band toured the UK with their "Hit Parade" arena tour,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Madness Hit Parade UK Tour 2025 |url=https://www.madness.co.uk/hitparade |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=Madness}}</ref> with Kevin Burdett filling in for him; Burdett had previously filled in for Chris during his break from the band in 2005–06 and briefly toured with them again in 2013.

=== The Nutty Boys/Crunch! === After Madness disbanded in 1986, he formed a new band The Madness with Thompson, Suggs and Chas Smash, but they broke up after releasing their debut album, the eponymous ''The Madness''. Then Foreman, alongside Thompson, created another group called The Nutty Boys with Thompson on lead vocals. They released an album called ''Crunch!'' in 1990.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dangermen.net/MadnessStory/madness7.htm|title=Chapter 7: Here They Come Again|website=Dangermen.net|access-date=11 November 2015|archive-date=7 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307221654/http://www.dangermen.net/MadnessStory/madness7.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> The band continued to be known as Crunch!, and played in London every couple of years.

== Videography == === Axecam === In 2006, Foreman began using a Samsung D600 mobile phone attached to his guitar to record short videos from his position on stage during live Madness performances to provide his fans with a unique perspective from the "guitar's eye view". He coined the term "Axecam" to describe this filming technique.<ref name="Herald">[http://www.plymouthherald.co.uk/love-Madness-Musical-House-Plymouth/story-20072953-detail/story.html] {{Dead link|date=July 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> By December 2008, he had acquired a higher quality digital Flip video camera which he attached to the shoulder strap of his guitar using an "Axecam holder", crafted by a member of the stage crew just before Madness went on stage at The O2 Arena on 19 December 2008. The new "Axecam" produced a far more stable picture and Foreman posted the first video from this performance ("It Must Be Love") to the MadnessStudio2008 Channel on YouTube on 20 December 2008.<ref>{{Cite web |title=MadnessStudio2008 |url=https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJpHHFoWlCdBWNxI8pk5HwA |access-date=2026-03-08 |website=YouTube |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhvLyahtujE |title=MADNESS IT MUST BE LOVE |date=2008-12-20 |access-date=2026-03-08 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

=== Chrissy Boy Meets And Greets... === Foreman also maintains a series of videos made with the Axecam entitled "Chrissy Boy Meets And Greets...", in which he meets famous people that have either appeared alongside Madness at festivals, or that have attended awards ceremonies with Madness.<ref name="Herald" /> The video is normally a close up of the famous person's face, with Foreman out of shot, and usually consists of a few spoken words, and perhaps a joke or humorous reference from Foreman to the star's career. Each clip is normally less than ten seconds long. Stars featured have included: Dizzee Rascal, Al Murray, Plan B, Alex James, Graham Coxon and Damon Albarn, former Madness singer/drummer/manager John Hasler, all six members of the reformed Specials, ex-Bodysnatcher and Madness collaborator Rhoda Dakar, Martin Freeman, Eamonn Holmes, Jeremy Clarkson, Lulu, and Peter Andre, as well as an Elvis Presley lookalike security guard from Australia.

==Personal life== In 1976, Foreman married Susan, his childhood sweetheart, and they have a son, Matthew (born 1976). In 1992 Foreman married his second wife Laurence, and they have a son, Felix (born 1993, Hampstead, London). In 2001 Foreman married his third wife Melissa, and they have a son, Frankie (born 2002, London), he also has a daughter, Elfie (born 2006, Brighton).<ref>{{cite web |url=https://rockportraits.wordpress.com/2015/09/18/madness|title=Madness|website=Rockportraits.wordpress.com|date=18 September 2015|access-date=10 November 2015}}</ref> In August 2023, Foreman separated from his wife and moved out of the family home to a rented bungalow in Peacehaven. He bought a house in Telscombe in September 2024, where he currently resides.

=== Health === In August 2025, Foreman revealed that he had been diagnosed with myeloma, a treatable but incurable form of blood cancer. He first experienced symptoms earlier that year, including severe pain in his upper back and shoulders, which led to an MRI scan and the discovery of a spinal tumour. Following radiotherapy and a spinal tap procedure, Foreman stated that his kidney function—initially at 12%—had "greatly improved."

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://www.myspace.com/crunchuk Myspace.com] * [http://www.crunch.uk.com/ Crunch.uk.com] * [http://www.madness.co.uk/ Madness.co.uk]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreman, Chris}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:English rock guitarists Category:English pop guitarists Category:English male guitarists Category:English male songwriters Category:English lead guitarists Category:Madness (band) members Category:People from St Pancras, London Category:Musicians from the London Borough of Camden Category:British ska musicians Category:21st-century English guitarists Category:20th-century English guitarists Category:People from Kentish Town Category:Musicians from Brighton Category:20th-century English male musicians Category:21st-century English male musicians Category:People_with_multiple_myeloma