WIKIPEDIA:

“ Arthur Brown (born Arthur Wilton Brown on 24 June 1942) is an English rock and roll musician best known for his flamboyant, theatrical style and significant influence on Alice Cooper, Peter Gabriel, Marilyn Manson, George Clinton, Kiss, King Diamond, and Bruce Dickinson, among others, and for his number one hit in the UK Singles Chart and Canada, "Fire" in 1968.

History
After attending Roundhay Grammar School in Leeds, Brown attended the University of London and the University of Reading and studied philosophy and law, but he gravitated to music instead, forming his first band, Blues and Brown, while at Reading. After a spell fronting a number of bands in London, Brown then moved to Paris in 1966, where he worked on his theatrical skills. During this period he recorded two songs for the Roger Vadim film of the Emile Zola novel La Curee. Returning to London around the turn of 1966 to 1967 he was a temporary member of a London-based R&B/Soul/Ska group The Ramong Sound that would soon become the hit making soul group The Foundations.

The Crazy World of Arthur Brown
By the time the Foundations had been signed to Pye Records Brown [......] ”

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