Richard McNamara

Richard McNamara (born 23 October 1972 in Mytholmroyd, West Riding of Yorkshire) is a British musician and record producer, best known as the guitarist and co-lead vocalist for Embrace. He and his older brother, Danny, grew up in the village of Bailiff Bridge, Brighouse near Halifax. He is the father of singer-songwriter Ellur.

Richard and Danny McNamara attended Hipperholme Grammar School in nearby Hipperholme with their brother Jonathan.

According to Danny, as a child Richard was nicknamed 'Firestarter' as he was fascinated with fire and was always playing with a box of matches.

McNamara was initially the drummer for a thrash metal garage band called Gross Misconduct in his teens. It is believed that Embrace began when his brother barged into a session and started telling him and his bandmates what to do.

Although McNamara has worked with his brother in writing many of the band's songs, he only single-handedly sings a few songs. Most notably "One Big Family" and "Hooligan" which were both issued as singles; also "I Want The World" on the band's début album.

In 2018, McNamara (alongside Embrace members, Steve Firth, Mike Heaton and Mickey Dale) collaborated with Preston-based songwriter, Mark Whiteside [Evil Blizzard] under Whiteside's pre-existing solo project, One Sided Horse. An album ["Between Light and Space"] was recorded and produced by Mickey Dale and released on UK Independent Label, Butterfly Effect.