JANUARY 20201980's
EARLY YEARS
Neil realised his passion for singing at an early age, initially inspired by his favourite group ABBA.
He became part of the school choir and in 1982, aged 14, made his stage debut in the annual concert - proudly being their first ever solo male singer.
He performed I Write The Songs, Bermuda Triangle, and One Of Us backed by the school orchestra.
1986
TALENT CONTEST
In 1986 Neil won first place in a talent contest at Birmingham's Nightingale Club which led to a mini tour throughout Birmingham's clubs & pubs.
He released his first recordings on a 4-track cassette which featured Love Letters, Only You, As Good As New, and Is This Love? and he also got the chance to perform live supporting Hazell Dean who was enjoying chart success at that time.
THE BIZ - 1991 & 1992
In 1991 Neil became a member of seven piece band The Biz.After various local gigs they were chosen from over 7000 entries to represent England in the '91 Gibraltar Song Festival, where they reached 3rd place.
Incidently, 'The Biz' line-up also included keyboard player Mark Peach, with whom Neil would later join forces...
EUPHORIA - 1993
Neil and former The Biz keyboardist Mark Peach began working together as duo 'Euphoria' early in 1993 and it proved to be an incredibly busy year, which the local press documented...
Euphoria won the Marine public house talent competition, and their increasing profile and busy local gig schedule led to their first summer season at Great Yarmouth's Winter Gardens.
Singer Rose-Marie invited the duo to support her weekly summer shows at Yarmouth's Wellington Pier theatre too.
They also supported emerging boybands Worlds Apart and Let Loose at the Coca Cola Roadshow which visited Lowestoft in Suffolk, amongst other UK locations.
The duo also appeared at Noel Edmonds Garden Party at Haydock Park in the UK's Merseyside, and released their first ever single 'the ep' on CD and cassette, which featured the popular song Never Never.
Written by Vince Clarke of Depeche Mode, Yazoo, & Erasure , Never Never would later give Euphoria a number 1 radio hit in the former Soviet Union...
EUPHORIA - 1994
Early in 94 Neil & Mark embarked on a 5 week tour of the Ukranian capital Kiev, where they also scored a no. 1 radio hit with Never Never.
EUPHORIA - 1995
By 1995 the duo had secured their 3rd summer season at Great Yarmouth's Winter Gardens and were also the supporting act for comedian Jim Davidson in his midnight shows throughout the summer.NEIL - 1996
In 1996, during his continued success as part of pop duo Euphoria, Neil landed a lead role in the musical Chess, a production by The Lowestoft Players which was staged at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft, Suffolk.Neil played the part of Russian Chess champion Anatoly Sergievski in the musical, which was written by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA fame.
EUPHORIA - 1997
1997 saw Euphoria continuing Live gigs around East Anglia.
EUPHORIA - 2003
Euphoria were still perfoming to audiences around Norfolk, with occasional mentions in the local press:
EUPHORIA - 2007
Euphoria announced they would no longer perform together on the live circuit for the forseeable future...Since mid 2007 work commitments outside of the band meant the duo were increasingly unable to gig together, so vocalist Neil began to perform as a solo act.
By late 2007 the growth in regular bookings for Neil's solo act, combined with Mark's other work commitments, meant both members of Euphoria decided the time was right to end on a high.
They offered their sincerest thanks for all the incredible support they'd received over their 14 years together.
2007
NEIL - SOLO
Neil played his first SOLO gig at The Barking Smack
in Great Yarmouth using his own powerful sound System.
2009
CHESS - THE MUSICAL... AGAIN!
Neil was overjoyed to return to a lead role in a local
production of the musical CHESS.
Written by Benny & Bjorn from ABBA fame,
the show was staged by
The Lowestoft Players at the Marina Theatre in Lowestoft
from 19th - 23rd May 2009.
Playing the part of 'The Russian' Anatoly Sergievsky,
this was Neil's 2nd time in this role after impressing
the critics back in 1996.
2010
BROADWAY HITS!
Neil, along with several other local soloists, joined
The Chorus of St Cecilia in concerts
at Gorleston Pavilion for 3 successive nights in March
2010.
Amongst the hits from stage and screen Neil performed
'Anthem' & 'You and I' from Chess plus a selection from
'Miss Saigon', 'Les Miserables' and more!
2011
SOME ENCHANTED EVENING!
Neil returned to join The Chorus of St Cecilia
in a special production of Broadway's most popular songs!
Amongst the hits from stage and screen, Neil also performed
several solo numbers!
The concerts took place at the beautiful Gorleston Pavilion
on 24th, 25th and 26th March 2011.
2012
SHOWSTOPPERS!
Neil returned to join The Chorus of St Cecilia
in a production of 'Showstoppers' from the hit shows
of Broadway including 'My Fair Lady', 'West Side Story',
'Annie', '42nd Street', 'Mary Poppins', and more! Neil
also performed several solo numbers!
The concert played at Gorleston Pavilion on Thursday
22nd / Friday 23rd / Saturday 24th March 2012.
2013:
TONIGHT'S THE NIGHT!
Neil joined The Chorus of St Cecilia
again in a special production of 'Tonight's The Night'
from the hit shows of Broadway and the West End including
'Guys And Dolls', 'Joseph', 'Carousel', 'The Lion King'
and many more!
These annual concerts took place at Gorleston Pavilion
on 7th, 8th and 9th March 2013.
2013
TURN BACK TIME
On 26th October 2013 Neil joined the newly-formed Turn
Back Time - a dynamic cast of singers, dancers
and musicians to perform the very best of popular music
from the past, live in concert.
With
a mixture of top 40 hits, songs from the movies and
80's West End Show tunes, the cast performed the hits
of Yazoo, Cher, Irene Cara, the Pointer Sisters, ABC,
Michael Jackson, Madonna and more! 
2014
A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING!
Neil once again joined The Chorus of St Cecilia
in a special production 'A Grand Night For
Singing' from the hit shows of Broadway and the West
End including 'My Fair Lady', 'Miss Saigon', 'Hello
Dolly!', 'Mamma Mia!' and more!
This concert was staged at Gorleston Pavilion on 20th,
21st, and 22nd March 2014.
2014
TURN BACK TIME...AGAIN
Due to public demand Neil and the Turn Back Time team returned once again to visit the party decade on Saturday 10th May 2014.
Returning once again to the wonderfully restored St. George's Theatre in Great Yarmouth it was "A perfect evening of 80's nostalgia"
2015
SHELTER ft. NEIL FRANCIS
Neil was ecstatic to release his first single "Connected (put your hands up)".
Written and produced by SHELTER - the pop duo who had recently worked with ERASURE star ANDY BELL - writing and producing his recent solo album iPOP.
Connected is an uplifting and hopeful song of human unity, and its lyrics echo the spirit and shared joy of Neil's phenomenally popular impromptu London tube performance.
Captured on video on Kentish Town underground station in December 2014, the footage went 'viral' - launching Neil as an internet 'Superstar'.
The official video to accompany this release was produced & directed by Ryan Lovejoy, and was filmed entirely in Great Yarmouth including St George's theatre, Britannia pier, North Quay, and Breydon Water.
2015:
TONIGHT ON BROADWAY!
In March 2015 Neil performed once again with The
Chorus of St Cecilia and other soloists in
a local production 'Tonight On Broadway'.
This annual concert continues to be a popular staple
of Neil's vocal work outside of electronic music, and
showcasing his love for musical theatre.
2015
NORMAL, STRANGE & FABULOUS:
Neil was delighted to join SHELTER live on stage to perform Connected (Put Your Hands Up) in London on 24th April 2015.
SHELTER also performed songs from their albums Emerge and iPOP.
Electronic artist JOHNNY NORMAL also performed, and comedian/singer GARY LE STRANGE completed the lineup of this "Evening of synthetic mirth, merriment and music".
2015
'GHOST' SINGLE RELEASED:
Neil released a new solo single Ghost (I Surrender), written and recorded by his long-time friend Derrick Ryder (DEK101) and produced by Day Clifford (DAYSOUND).
This release is still available for download from iTunes,
Amazon,
and all other digital music stores.