Darbyshire was born in Stockport, Cheshire, and educated in Manchester until, at the age of 13, he followed his parents to Japan, where he attended an American boarding school.
After studying English Literature at Oxford University, he joined a Manchester band called Zu Zu Sharks, which also included Adam and the Ants bassist Gary Tibbs.
They scored a minor European hit with the synth-pop single Love Tumbles Down in 1983, but Darbyshire left the band soon afterwards.
He was working on solo material when he met drummer Anthony “Tich” Critchlow and keyboard player Marcus Vere at a studio in Sheffield.
They were already working on a demo of the song Living In A Box, and invited him to sing the lead vocals. The results earned the band a five-album record deal – with their eponymous song becoming a Top 20 hit in the US.
“The impact of the first single was so enormous,” Vere told Music Techonolgy magazine in 1987. “It came from nowhere and shot straight up the charts. The vice-president of marketing in the States said it’s the fastest single they’ve had in four years.”
Soul legend Bobby Womack later recorded his own version, and duetted with Darbyshire on the single So the Story Goes.
For their second album, Gatecrashing, the band also enlisted the help of Queen’s Brian May, who played guitar on the track Blow The House Down, which became their final top 10 hit in 1989.
Although the band broke up before their third album was completed, some of the songs resurfaced on Darbyshire’s 1994 solo record Better to Have Lost.
Living in a Box reformed in 2016 with replacement vocalist Kenny Thomas, and are currently touring with their third singer Bryan Chambers.
Before his death, Darbyshire had been holding songwriting workshops in London. He is survived by his wife, the vocal coach Sonia Jones.
“In some ways Richard was the most reluctant of pop stars, always eschewing the limelight that inevitably came with the success we had,” his former bandmates reflected on Instagram on Tuesday.
“He hated the photo shoots, the interviews, the TV appearances and thought it was all a bit daft.
“He was happiest in the studio, guitar in hand, working on the next song.
“Love you, man.”
