Chris Wade

English musician, songwriter and illustrator. Born 1954 in Ilkley. Died 2008.
Wade played with various bands around the North of England on lead guitar and vocals, including in the 1970s with Jenny Haan’s Lion.
In the 1980s he also formed a close partnership with Alan Silson from the Bradford-formed band, Smokie, and wrote the lyrics for a number of their successful numbers, including "Respect", released as a single by the band in 1992.
Wade studied graphic design at Bradford School of Art in 1972, and after leaving college, worked as a commercial illustrator. He also developed his own artwork, specializing in watercolor Yorkshire Dales scenes. He enjoyed a period of success in the 1980s and early 1990s for his landscape artwork and for commissioned work illustrating classic performance cars, aircraft, and railway subjects.