Ugly Rumours was the name of a rock band founded in part by former UK prime minister Tony Blair, while studying law at St John's College, Oxford during the early 1970s; he sang and played guitar. The band's name came from the cover of the Grateful Dead's album From the Mars Hotel. Other members of the band were Mark Ellen, who later went on to present BBC TV's Whistle Test music show and become the founding editor of British music magazine Q and Adam Sharples, currently Director General, Employment Group at the Department for Work and Pensions.