{{Infobox musical artist | <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians -->
| Name                = Robert Wyatt
| Img                 = RobertWyatt 2006.jpg
| Img_capt            = Robert Wyatt, London, April 2006
| Background          = solo_singer
| Birth_name          = Robert Wyatt-Ellidge
| Born                = <br><small>Bristol, England</small>
| Instrument          = Keyboards, Singing
| Genre               = Experimental
| Occupation          = Musician, Composer
| Years_active        = 1963 – present
| Label               = Virgin, Rough Trade, Domino
| Associated_acts     = The Wilde Flowers, Soft Machine, Matching Mole, Kevin Ayers, Henry Cow
}}

'''Robert Wyatt''' (born '''Robert Wyatt-Ellidge''', English musician, and founding member of the influential Canterbury scene band Soft Machine. He is married to English painter and songwriter Alfreda Benge.

==Early life==
As a teenager, he lived with his parents in Lydden near Dover. Here he was taught the drums by visiting American jazz drummer George Neidorf. 

In 1962, Wyatt and Neidorf moved to Majorca where they stayed near the poet Robert Graves. The following year, Wyatt returned to England and joined the Daevid Allen Trio with Daevid Allen and Hugh Hopper. Allen subsequently left for France and Wyatt and Hopper formed The Wilde Flowers with Kevin Ayers, Richard Sinclair and Brian Hopper. Wyatt was initially the drummer in the Wilde Flowers, but following the departure of Ayers, he also became lead singer.

==Soft Machine and Matching Mole==
In 1966, the Wilde Flowers disintegrated, and Wyatt and Mike Ratledge formed the Soft Machine with Kevin Ayers and Daevid Allen. Here Wyatt both drummed and sang, an unusual combination for a stage rock band.

In 1970, after chaotic touring, three albums and increasing internal conflicts in Soft Machine, Wyatt released his first solo album, ''The End of an Ear'', which combined his vocal and multi-instrumental talents with tape effects.

A year later, Wyatt left Soft Machine and, besides participating in the fusion bigband Centipede and drumming at the Neville Whitehead<ref></ref>, formed his own band Gong's paralysed from the waist down and subsequently confined to a Rainbow Theatre, supported by Soft Machine, and compered by John Peel. The concerts raised a reported £10,000 for Wyatt.

==Solo career==
The injury led Wyatt to abandon the Matching Mole project, and his drumming. He promptly embarked on a solo-career, and with musician friends (including Rock Bottom''. Later that same year he put out a single, a cover version of "I'm a Believer", which hit number 29 in the UK chart. Both were produced by Pink Floyd drummer Nick Mason. There were strong arguments with the producer of ''Top of the Pops'' surrounding his performance of "I'm a Believer," on the grounds that his wheelchair-bound appearance 'was not suitable for family viewing', the producer wanting Wyatt to appear on a normal chair. Wyatt won the day and 'lost his rag but not the wheel chair', but gave a performance that could best be described as disgruntled.

His follow-up single, a reggae ballad remake of Chris Andrews's hit "Yesterday Man" was nearly released by Virgin, but at the last minute it was shelved due to "the boss at Virgin claiming that single was 'lugubrious', robbing Wyatt of a possible follow-up hit".<ref>Quote taken from the liner notes of Wyatt's "EPs" boxset.</ref>

Wyatt's next solo-album, ''Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard'', was more jazz-led, with free jazz influences and nods to African music. Guest musicians included Brian Eno on guitar, synthesizer and "direct inject anti-jazz ray gun". ''Rock Bottom'' was produced by Nick Mason and Wyatt would subsequently sing lead vocals on Mason's 1981, and first, solo album ''Fictitious Sports'' (with songwriting credits going to Carla Bley).

Throughout the rest of the 1970s, Wyatt guested with various acts, including Shipbuilding", the last in a series of political cover-versions (collected as ''Nothing Can Stop Us''), reached number 35 in the UK singles chart. 

In the late 1980s, after collaborations with other acts such as News from Babel as well as Japanese recording artist Ryuichi Sakamoto, he and his wife Alfreda Benge spent a sabbatical in Spain, before returning in 1991 with a comeback album ''Dondestan'', considered by many to be his best work since ''Rock Bottom''. His 1997 album ''Shleep'' was also highly acclaimed.

In 1999 he collaborated with the Italian singer Cristina Donà on her second album ''Nido''. In the summer of 2000 her first EP ''Goccia'' was released and Wyatt made an appearance in the video of the title track.

Wyatt contributed the haunting "Masters of the Field", as well as "The Highest Gander", "La Forêt Rouge" and "Hors Champ" to the soundtrack of the acclaimed 2001 film ''Winged Migration''. He can be seen in the DVD's Special Features section, and is praised by the film's composer Bruno Coulais as being a big influence in his younger days.

The I Believe" from ''Songs from the Big Chair'' (1985) is reportedly dedicated to Wyatt; the video features Roland Orzabal sitting shirtless in an arm chair for most of the video to mimic Wyatt's paralysis.

==Recent years==
In 2001, Wyatt was curator of the Meltdown festival, and sang "Comfortably Numb" during David Gilmour's performance at the festival, recorded on Gilmour's DVD ''David Gilmour in Concert''.

In 2003, Wyatt put out his album ''Cuckooland'' which was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize.

In 2004, Wyatt collaborated with Medúlla''.

'''Robert Wyatt''' - de son vrai nom '''Robert Ellidge''' (''Wyatt'' est le nom de sa mère) - est un batteur et chanteur né le Bristol en Angleterre, connu pour avoir joué dans Soft Machine

==Biographie==
Adolescent, il vit dans une vaste maison géorgienne à Lydden près de Canterbury. Il apprend la batterie auprès du batteur de jazz américain George Niedorf.

En 1962, Wyatt et Niedorf partent pour Majorque où ils rencontrent le poète Robert Graves. 

De retour en Angleterre, il commence sa carrière en 1963 en participant, avec le bassiste Hugh Hopper, au trio de Daevid Allen. Il rejoindra ensuite les frères Hopper, Richard Sinclair (futur fondateur de Caravan) et Kevin Ayers au sein des Wild Flowers dont il deviendra le chanteur.

En été batterie très fin, proche du jazz et une voix émouvante aux accents très caractéristiques très proche du registre de haute-contre. Suite à des dissensions au sein du groupe, il quitte la formation après le quatrième album nommé ''Fourth'', album dans lequel il ne chante pas (son premier album solo, ''The End of an Ear'' mentionne «out-of-work pop singer, currently on drums with Soft Machine»). Soft Machine, qui achève alors sa première période, celle dans laquelle il connaît le plus grand succès auprès du public, s'oriente alors vers une musique plus proche du jazz-rock et complètement instrumentale.

Robert Wyatt fonde basse et David Sinclair au piano et à l'orgue. Dans ce disque, il renoue avec un type de musique plus rock et plus mélodique, un retour au style de Canterbury de ses débuts, celle de Soft Machine ne lui laissait plus vraiment d'espace créatif. Il chante à nouveau, offrant avec le titre ''O Caroline'' une ligne mélodique complexe et émouvante. Le groupe sort la même année son second disque, produit par Robert Fripp, ''Little Red Record'' dans lequel on note une participation de Brian Eno.

Avant d'enregistrer le 3eme album, il subit un grave accident - une chute de quatre étages, la rumeur précisant que c'était sous l'effet du LSD,  - qui le laisse paralysé des deux jambes. Il abandonne son groupe et la batterie, et entame alors une carrière solo, où il produit des albums et exécute la plupart des parties musicales.

En 1974, il sort l'album ''Rock Bottom'',  grand prix de disque Charles Cros, produit par Nick Mason, avec notamment Mike Oldfield, le poète Ivor Cutler, Hugh Hopper, Fred Frith guitariste du groupe Henry Cow et le trompettiste Sud-Africain Mongezi Feza, "l'un des chefs-d'œuvres les plus originaux de l'histoire du rock" (Alain Dister). Il sort la même année une reprise de ''I'm a Believer'' qui connait un bon succès commercial.
Son album suivant ''Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard'' est plus orienté jazz avec des influences de musique africaine.

Durant le reste des années 1970, Wyatt travaille avec Henry Cow, Hatfield and the North, Carla Bley et Michael Mantler. Ses projets solo se politisent et il devient porte-parole du Parti Communiste Britannique.
En 1983, son interprétation de la chanson anti-guerre des Malouines d'Elvis Costello "Shipbuilding" atteint la 35ème place dans le classement des meilleures ventes au Royaume Uni.

Il revient en 1991 avec l'album ''Dondestan'' consideré par beaucoup comme sa meilleure œuvre depuis ''Rock Bottom''. En 1997 son album ''Shleep'' reçoit également des avis élogieux. Il en va de même pour son avant-dernier album en date ''Cuckooland'' (2003). À noter en 2005 la sortie d'un concert de 1974 qui n'existait jusqu'alors qu'en version pirate, "Theatre Royal Drury Lane".