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Christopher Alan Helme (born 22 July 1971) is an English people singer-songwriter, formerly the frontman of John Squire's post-Stone Roses band The Seahorses.
Geffen Records, to whom Squire was still under contract following his departure from The Stone Roses, signed the band. The Seahorses released their debut album Do It Yourself in 1997. The album was produced by Tony Visconti and spawned three . "Love is the Law" reached no. 2 in the UK Singles Chart; "Blinded by the Sun" got to no. 7 and "Love Me and Leave Me" at no. 15. The stand-alone single "You Can Talk to Me", co-written by Squire and Helme peaked at no. 15.
In January 1999, after two years of intensive touring, including support slots to The Rolling Stones, U2 and Oasis, a press release sent to the NME announced the split of the Seahorses "due to John Squire's and lead singer Chris Helme's irreconcilable differences over the musical direction the band should take".
Both Helme and Squire later gave conflicting reasons for the split. Helme claimed that "there was a personality clash during rehearsals. When he (Squire) came up with new stuff I didn't like his lyrics or tunes. I could have gone with it and made quite a lot of money, but I wasn't interested." Squire later commented on his reasons for ending the band that "I thought, 'This sounds shit, we don't deserve to be in this place.' The band sounded complacent. I don't suppose it was anyone's fault. Maybe it got far too much attention for very little effort in the early stages, because of what I'd done in the past."
Following these initial gigs, which the NME described as "fairly unambitious rock music", Helme abandoned the band format and returned to his native York where he performed sporadic low-key solo acoustic shows. In 2000 Helme started working with session guitarist James Nisbet and began playing showcase gigs in London backed by a revolving cast of session musicians, which at one point featured drummer Toby Drummond, who temporarily replaced Andy Watts in The Seahorses. With a full band, Helme headlined his biggest gig to date as a solo artist, at the Theatre Royal in York in May 2000.
In 2001 a permanent backing band was assembled with Nisbet, drummer John Miller and Stuart Fletcher back on bass. With new management and PR, an official website was launched and a 3 track demo CD was serviced to the media. With the new band, Helme performed numerous London showcase gigs at Ritz and undertook a short UK tour in November of that year.
Helme then went on to form The Yards with members of his solo backing band. Initially named Super Zero, the band originally featured former Shed Seven guitarist Paul Banks who left before the release of their debut EP The Devil Is Alive and Well in D.C. in April 2003. The band released their self-titled debut album in 2005 and second album Imperial Measures in 2009 via their own label Industrial Erotica. The band split in November 2009 with members pursuing their own projects.
In 2024, a decade after his last release, Helme released his third solo album World Of My Own . The folk-rock album is a reflection on the decade prior, described as 'celebrating and questioning relationships, the distance and closeness that inhabit them and the events that pull people tighter together' by RGM.
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