Omar, the trumpet-trained soul man who beat a quiz-show joke

Omar learned his craft the classical way. Growing up in Canterbury, Kent, he played the trumpet, piano and percussion, and he spent two years each at Chetham's School of Music in Manchester and the Guildhall School of Music in London. His first singles were "Mr Postman" in 1985 and "You and Me" in 1988, the latter with backing vocals by Caron Wheeler.

His debut album, There's Nothing Like This, came in 1990 on Kongo Records, his father's label, and entered the UK Albums Chart at number 54. After he signed to Talkin' Loud, the album was re-released and climbed to number 19. The title song reached number 14 on the UK singles chart on re-release in 1991 and remains his best-known work. A second album, Music, followed in 1992 and peaked at number 37.

A move to RCA led to collaborations with Lamont Dozier, David Frank, Derrick Bramble, Leon Ware, Syreeta and Stevie Wonder. In 1996 he contributed "Water to Drink" to the AIDS benefit album Red Hot + Rio. His song also gave rise to a small and amusing moment of television history. When it was used in the intro round on Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2003, presenter Mark Lamarr doubted whether Omar was really that recognisable. Omar's agent emailed the show, and some episodes later he appeared in the identity parade, Blockbuster card in hand. Lamarr had to concede.

Honours followed. The Urban Music Awards gave him Best Neo Soul Act and Outstanding Achievement in 2006, and he was appointed MBE in 2012 for services to music. He turned to acting too, debuting in the musical Been So Long in 2009, joining the house band of The Javone Prince Show in 2015 and playing Avery Baker in EastEnders in 2022.

In 2017 he was one of the Artists for Grenfell on the charity number one "Bridge over Troubled Water". It is a varied path for a trained trumpeter, and one that starts, for many listeners, with a single warm groove from 1991.