Sayer launched his career in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and became a top singles and album act on both sides of the Atlantic in that decade.

[5][6] Sayer attended St Peter's Catholic Primary School in Shoreham-by-Sea and then Blessed Robert Southwell (now St Oscar Romero Catholic School) in Goring-by-Sea,[7] before studying commercial art and graphic design at West Sussex College of Art and Design in Worthing, Sussex.

[8] Sayer was initially discovered by musician David Courtney, who then co-managed and co-produced him with former pop singer Adam Faith.

[9] Sayer began his music career co-writing songs with David Courtney, including "Giving It All Away", which gave Roger Daltrey of the Who his first solo hit in 1973.

In 1976, Sayer recorded three Beatles songs, "I Am the Walrus", "Let It Be" and "The Long and Winding Road", for the Beatles-themed concept film All This and World War II.

10 in the US; it also charted strongly in other countries including Sweden, Norway, the Netherlands, and New Zealand, and was certified as a platinum album in both the UK and the US,[12] and double-platinum in Canada.

[15] Also from Endless Flight, Sayer covered the Danny O'Keefe song "Magdalena", which served as the B-side to the "You Make Me Feel Like Dancing" single.

[18][19] Sayer also made cover versions of Bobby Vee's Sonny Curtis-Jerry Allison composition "More Than I Can Say" (his fourth UK No.

After a decade of success, Sayer's career suffered repeated setbacks due to a series of financial and legal problems.

In the early 1990s, his career stalled again while he fought a protracted but ultimately successful legal battle against his former label, Chrysalis, to regain the publishing rights to his songs.

He assembled a band led by former Van Morrison guitarist Ronnie Johnson and toured his way back to financial security.

[21] On 12 February 2006, Sayer made a return to number one in the UK singles chart, with DJ Meck's remix of "Thunder In My Heart".

This album, produced by Garth Porter (from the Australian pop band Sherbet) and released by Universal Music Australia, features selections from his catalog rearranged with strings and acoustic and jazz instrumentation.

In January 2015, Sayer released his album, Restless Years,[25] and toured Australia and Singapore, with various support acts including Jason Ayres.

[26] Also in January 2015, he featured in Singapore's Leo Sayer in Concert – 40 Years at the Top, presented by the British Theatre Playhouse.

[citation needed] In October 2015, he was awarded with a Gold Badge of Merit from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.