Richard Hawley (born January 17, 1967) is an English melodic alternative rock singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He became a staple of the Britpop genre with the band Longpigs and Pulp in the ‘90s, and has since enjoyed a successful solo career, hailing from Sheffield, England.
Born the son of a guitar-playing steel worker, Richard Hawley’s earliest musical inspiration came from folk-rock acts Roy Orbison and Elvis Presley. The Sheffield-native soon learned the play the guitar during school, and later formed the fringe Britpop band the Longpigs in 1993. From 1995 to 1999 Hawley issued a pair of albums with the group, “The Sun Is Often Out” and “Mobile Home”, both of which charted within the UK Top 40, and a successful run of singles. Following Longpigs’ dissolution, the singer and guitarist joined friend and fellow Britpop musician Jarvis Cocker’s band Pulp as a touring musician, who ultimately persuaded Hawley to release solo material.
The alt-rock infused singer-songwriter subsequently issued his eponymously-titled debut mini-album in 2001 on Setanta Records. In October that year Hawley built on his success by issuing the brooding, melancholic debut full-length album, “Late Night Final”. Earning more than favourable reviews, Hawey supported the record opening for Pulp and Coldplay and released the single “Baby, You’re My Light” in promotion. Reaching No. 169 on the UK Albums Chart, Hawley’s sophomore studio album “Lowedges” arrived in 2003 marking his last proper release on Setanta. Noted as his most successful album to date, 2005’s “Coles Corner” rose to No. 37 on the UK Albums Chart, earned a Mercury Prize nomination and widespread critical acclaim.
Going from strength to strength and making his way towards the heights of the charts, the singer’s fourth full-length album peaked at No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart. Spawning the singles “Tonight the Streets Are Ours”, “Serious”, and “Valentine”, the album showcased Hawley’s resiliently melancholy lyrics with timeless, genre-defying accompaniment. The live album “Live at the Devil’s Arse” followed in January 2009, after which he reached No. 17 on the UK Albums Chart with his full-length “Truelove’s Gutter”. Proving his highest-charting album to date, “Standing at the Sky’s Edge” arrived in May 2012, peaking at No. 3 on the UK Albums Chart, aided by the single “Leave Your Body Behind You”.
Echo & The Bunnymen
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