Tommy Tokyo

Tommy Tokyo was a Norwegian alternative singer/songwriter whose second album, Smear Your Smiles Back On, catapulted him to national fame, garnering not only critical accolades but Top Ten commercial success. Born Tommy Lorange Ottosen on August 26, 1971, and hailing from Fredrikstad, Norway, he began playing the guitar in 1995 and embarked on a musical career relatively late in life. In 1999 he formed the band Piggyback and proceeded to release an EP, Knucklesandwich (2000), and some promotional singles. Not much came of his efforts with Piggyback, however, and in 2002 he made his commercial recording debut as a solo artist with the Tommy Tokyo EP. A half-decade later he made his full-length solo album debut with Octopusdrunk & Arms to Prove It (2007) on Osito Records. In support of the album, he performed at several Norwegian music festivals and formed the band Tommy Tokyo & Starving for My Gravy, comprised of himself (on vocals and guitar), Even Juliussen (guitar), André Solli (bass), Fredrik Brarud (drums), and Knut-Øyvind Olsen (keyboards. Upon signing a major-label recording deal with Warner Music, Tommy Tokyo & Starving for My Gravy made their album debut in 2008 with Smear Your Smiles Back On. Not only was the album widely praised from a critical standpoint, getting lots of glowing press coverage, it was also a major commercial success, reaching number seven on the Norwegian albums chart. Tommy Tokyo died on March 22, 2022 while awaiting a heart transplant in Trondheim, Norway. He was 50 years old. ~ Jason Birchmeier