Background and career
Beverley "Bev" Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician who was the drummer and one of the original members of the Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II. Bevan also was a drummer for Black Sabbath during the Born Again Tour, and later played percussion on The Eternal Idol in 1987. Bevan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra.
Bevan was born in South Yardley, Birmingham. His father Charles used to play drums and was nicknamed Bev, which is how Bevan got his name. Charles died when Bev was 11 years old. After attending Moseley Grammar School, where he gained two O level passes, he worked as a trainee buyer in a city-centre department store called The Beehive with school friend Jasper Carrott (Robert Davis).
His professional music career started with a stint with Denny Laine in his group Denny Laine and the Diplomats, then with Carl Wayne & the Vikings, followed by the Move in 1966. The Move was known for being the boost to fame for Roy Wood. The Move's highest-selling songs are "Fire Brigade" and "Blackberry Way".
Bevan has a deep singing voice. With the Move he sang lead on a remake of "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" and the country and western spoof, "Ben Crawley Steel Co". He composed one Move song: "Don't Mess Me Up", an Elvis Presley spoof from the album Message from the Country, which was also the B-side of the Move's single "Tonight". He is also credited with writing the rock-blues "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" on Looking On: Roy Wood actually composed the song, but gave the songwriting credit to Bevan as a reward for his promotional efforts on behalf of the band. They released their final single, "California Man", in 1972.
After Carl Wayne died in 2004, the drummer formed Bev Bevan's Move with Phil Tree and former ELO Part II colleagues Phil Bates and Neil Lockwood, to play a set comprising mostly Move classics on tour. Bates left in July 2007 to re-join ELO Part II, by then renamed to The Orchestra. Bevan was then joined by former Move guitarist Trevor Burton.
The Move’s spinoff, Electric Light Orchestra, was formed by Bevan, Wood, and Jeff Lynne in 1970. They released their first album in 1971, by which time the Move existed only as a recording outfit. Among ELO's output, Bevan's distinct baritone vocals can be heard most prominently on "Fire On High" and "Strange Magic", both from the album Face the Music (1975). Bevan recorded a solo single in 1976, a cover of the Sandy Nelson instrumental "Let There Be Drums". Bevan played on all Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II albums up to 1999. In 1980 he published a historical memoir of the Electric Light Orchestra. In 1982, Bevan played drums on the solo album released by ELO bassist and co-vocalist Kelly Groucutt.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
