Already an established songwriter, he first became famous as a solo artist through his appearances on the BBC television show Fame Academy 2 in 2003, where he was mentored by Robin Gibb of the Bee Gees.

After graduating with a bachelor's degree in English literature and following a brief stint working as a milkman around his home town, he moved to London to pursue a career as a singer-songwriter.

It was widely reported that he auditioned for the boyband Blue, only narrowly failing to make it to the final line-up, but Griffin later dismissed this as a fabrication by the press.

Although signed by music publisher Trevor Horn's company, Perfect Songs, he was unable to get a solo recording contract and in 2002, he applied to become a contestant on the first series of Fame Academy.

As the final approached, he was dubbed the "dark horse" of the show by BBC Three presenter Claudia Winkleman,[1] and eventually finished in second place.

It was a good experience and taught me a great deal about the music industry while also giving me the exposure I needed and was desperately failing to obtain going it alone for all the years previously.

[This quote needs a citation]During 2004, Griffin performed live at over 50 gigs up and down the UK and appeared on numerous television programmes, including Top of the Pops and Liquid News.

The live performances of his own material that he gave throughout that year, singing acoustically and with the backing of a regular 5-piece band, Riccardi, showed a marked difference from the generic 'pop' approach of his record company.

The initial lineup proved unsuccessful, with James and Tom Martin leaving a few months later to form another indie band, The Station Club.

Despite writing and recording many songs together and releasing several free download tracks, Albion split up abruptly in August 2007 for reasons which were not made public.

In August 2008, he headlined the Truck Stage at the H2008:Beached festival in Scarborough and was also booked to return there for Acoustic Gathering 111 in September.

UK tour dates with Ivyrise were announced for September as well as an additional appearance at the Grand Opera House, York.

In October 2003, Griffin signed a record deal with UMTV and at the end of December released his first single, "Bring It On"; a double A-side also featuring "My Lover's Prayer", a duet with Robin Gibb.

Brand new versions of four of the songs which were originally recorded with his former band Albion, but never released, are included on his most recent solo CD Alistair Griffin (May 2008), again produced independently and only available to buy at live concerts during the Ivyrise tour.

[8] Griffin wrote "The Road", the official song of the 2014 Tour de France which he recorded with Girls Aloud's Kimberley Walsh.

Keeping faithfully to Cohen's melody, Griffin's vocals are sung to a simple acoustic backing, forming a contrast to the altered lyrics which reference the particular skills of Viduka and several other popular players in the team, as well as some of their opponents.

[10] After hearing the song, Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate was so taken with it, he asked Griffin to make a special recording to play at the following day's match.

[13] Griffin's songs cover a wide range of genres, from light pop and romantic ballads to anthemic rock.

He has also co-written songs with a number of other artists, including James Hearn, Michael Harwood, Nick Keynes and Jon O'Mahony of Ultra, Robin Gibb, singer-songwriter Richard Chance, Liverpudlian songwriting duo Chris and Tony Griffiths (of ex-Britpop band The Real People), and Paul Banks (ex Shed Seven).

1 album Impressed, released in 2003 by Jim Bakkum, runner-up in the Dutch series of Pop Idol; Do’s ballad "Angel By My Side" (co-written with James and Tom Martin) reached the Dutch Top 10 in 2004 and "Hungry For Love" (co-written with Greg Fitzgerald and Tom Nichols) was covered by rock band Di-rect, getting to number 3 early in 2005.

Griffin was brought up in Castleton, a small moorland village roughly halfway between Middlesbrough and Whitby in North Yorkshire.

In 2003, without his knowledge, his mother, Barbara Griffin, offered a date with him as a prize in a charity raffle for the Whitby Christmas Lights Appeal.

In March 2017, Alistair's private residence was partially demolished after the driver of a stolen Audi A4 careered off the road, following a brief chase by police.