Derek William Dick, better known as Fish (born 25 April 1958, Dalkeith, Midlothian, Scotland), is a Scottish singer-songwriter and occasional actor. He achieved prominence as the lead singer and lyricist of the neo-progressive rock band Marillion from 1981 until 1988. Critics have acknowledged Fish for his voice, which has been described as both "distinct" and a "conflation of Roger Daltrey and Peter Gabriel", while his lyrics have been praised as "poetic prose". Fish was voted the 37th greatest voice in rock by Planet Rock listeners in 2009.

Biography

Derek William Dick was born in Edinburgh, Scotland and grew up in Dalkeith.
The son of Robert and Isabella, Fish was educated at King's Park primary school and then Dalkeith High School. He was inspired by the music of many of the rock artists of the late 1960s and early 1970s, including Genesis, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, The Kinks, T. Rex, David Bowie, Argent and The Alex Harvey Band (Fish would later pay tribute to these early influences on his covers album Songs from the Mirror). Fish has also cited Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell as "one of the biggest influences on me because of her approach to lyrics". The first band he saw live was Yes at Usher Hall, Edinburgh, in 1974. As well as his love for music, he was also a voracious reader, and his literary inspirations included Jack Kerouac, Truman Capote, Robert Burns and Dylan Thomas (all of whom would later be depicted on the sleeve of Marillion's Clutching at Straws).

Fish worked as a petrol pump attendant, gardener and from 1977 until 1980 worked in forestry. During this period he adopted the nickname of Fish, which originated from the amount of time he spent in the bathtub. Fish has been quoted: "With a real name of Derek William Dick, it became very necessary to find a nickname as quickly as possible." Fish joined Marillion in 1981 and came to the public's attention as the band gained popularity over the next couple of years, leading to the release of their top ten debut album Script for a Jester's Tear in 1983. The band achieved further chart success in the UK, attaining top ten hit singles in 1985 with "Kayleigh" and "Lavender", and again in 1987 with "Incommunicado". In 1988, Fish left Marillion to pursue his solo career. Many of Fish's later works contain lengthy spoken word lyrics, shorter examples of which can be heard on earlier Marillion albums. Fish has collaborated with Genesis founder Tony Banks in his Still and Soundtracks albums, singing on tracks: Shortcut to Somewhere, Angel Face, and co-wrote Another Murder of a Day.

Fish has sometimes been compared to Peter Gabriel, lead singer of Genesis in the 1970s, and his voice has even been described as "uncannily close". Music journalist David Hepworth described his voice as a "conflation of Roger Daltrey and Peter Gabriel". Fish has acknowledged Gabriel's influence on him and some vocal similarities, but has rejected accusations from some critics during his career that he does not have a unique voice of his own. Peter Hammill of Van der Graaf Generator was also a major influence on his songwriting and vocal delivery, which is especially notable on the first two Marillion albums.

On 26 August 2007, Fish performed at the 'Hobble on The Cobbles' show at the Market Square in Aylesbury, UK. He was accompanied on stage by his four former Marillion bandmates from the classic line-up (Mark Kelly, Steve Rothery, Ian Mosley and Pete Trewavas) for one song: 'Market Square Heroes'. This was the first time they had performed together in nearly two decades. In a press interview following the event, Fish denied this would lead to a full reunion, claiming that "Hogarth does a great job with the band ... We forged different paths over the 19 years."

His 2007 album, 13th Star, was released on 12 September as a specially-packaged pre-release version available to order from his website. A UK tour for this album commenced in March 2008, supported by Glyder. In February 2008, Fish was confirmed to be the Friday night headline act at NEARFest X. He also appeared with BBC Radio 2's Bob Harris on GMTV to promote Childline Rocks, a charity concert.

In 2008, Fish presented a Friday evening radio show "Fish on Friday" for digital radio station Planet Rock. When the station was faced with closure, Malcolm Bluemel with the help of Fish, Tony Iommi, Ian Anderson and Gary Moore helped save Planet Rock by buying the station.

On 9 June 2008, Fish embarked on his first full North American tour in eleven years. At each stop, he hosted a pre-show meet-and-greet with his fans. Two days prior, he was interviewed by Vince Font of the progressive rock podcast Prog'opolis, which was aired a week later on The Dividing Line Broadcast Network (DLBN) as "My Lunch With Fish".

In 2005, Fish won a Celebrity Music edition of The Weakest Link, beating Eggsy of Goldie Lookin Chain in the final round, sharing £18,750 with Eggsy's charity and his own.

On 20 and 21 October 2012, Fish hosted Fish Convention 2012 in Leamington Spa, United Kingdom. He performed two acoustic sets and two electric sets including material from his upcoming release, Feast of Consequences. He also performed fan favourite Marillion B-Side "Grendel", twice.