A Brit by birth, John Lawton moved to Hamburg, Germany, when he was with a band called Stone Wall. He stayed there when the band moved on, feeling that this might be the place to get his break. He didn't have to wait long as Lucifer's Friend got in touch with him to have him work with them. He recorded their debut release, Lucifer's Friend, with them. His next group was Les Humphries Singers. He managed to do both of these bands concurrently, as Lucifer's Friend was only a studio group. He continued on doing this double duty until 1976 when he became the new singer for Uriah Heep. He remained with the group for the next three years, leaving to pursue a solo career. However, his album did not light up the charts and Lawton found himself back performing both with Les Humphries Singers and Lucifer's Friend. He also formed a band called Gun Hill and kept himself busy performing with all three of those groups.