Hugh Alexander McDowell (31 July 1953 – 6 November 2018) was an English cellist best known for his membership of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and related acts.
McDowell started playing the cello at the age of four-and-a-half; by the age of 10, he had won a scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School. Only one year later he made his first professional appearance in Benjamin Britten's The Turn of the Screw, in which he sang. Later he attended Kingsway College of Further Education, the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He played with the London Youth Symphony Orchestra, the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra and London Youth Chamber Orchestra, until he was persuaded by Wilf Gibson to join The Electric Light Orchestra.
McDowell performed with the first live line-up of ELO in 1972 while only 19 years old, but left with founding member Roy Wood and horn player/keyboardist Bill Hunt to perform with the group Wizzard. During his time in Wizzard, he played both cello and Moog synthesizer, but returned to ELO in 1973 to replace Colin Walker. McDowell's return was partly motivated by a desire to play more cello and less keyboards as he had done with Wizzard. He remained with the group until Jeff Lynne removed the string players from the line-up. McDowell appeared in promotional videos for the Discovery album, despite not having played on the record. He performed with Electric Light Orchestra Part II in 1991.

Return to Hugh McDowell Autograph Profile