Gary Lightbody
Gareth John Lightbody[1] OBE (born 15 June 1976) is a Northern Irish musician. He is best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. He has also founded the musical supergroups The Reindeer Section and Tired Pony.
Gary Lightbody
OBE
OBE
Gareth John Lightbody[1]
15 June 1976
Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
- Singer
- songwriter
- guitarist
- multi-instrumentalist
- Vocals
- guitar
1994–present
Early life and education[edit]
Gareth John Lightbody was born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Lynne (née Wray) and Jack Lightbody.[2] Jack Lightbody has been an independent business owner and has roots in Rosemount, Derry.[3] Gary Lightbody has one sister, Sarah, and attended Rathmore Primary School, Rockport School and Campbell College, where he was first introduced to the writings of Seamus Heaney which inspired him to write his own poetry and songs.[4][5]
In 1994, Lightbody left home for Scotland to study English literature at the University of Dundee, where he was a keen hockey player, often being dragged from his bed on a Saturday morning to play matches.[6][7]
Career[edit]
Snow Patrol[edit]
Lightbody formed a band with Mark McClelland and drummer Michael Morrison in 1994, called Shrug. Morrison left the band later, and the band were forced to change the name to Polarbear, as another band had claimed the name. In the band's first seven years of existence, they added drummer Jonny Quinn, released two albums (Songs for Polarbears, and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up), and toured with bands such as Levellers, Ash and Travis. The band stayed in Glasgow during the recording of the first two albums. Lightbody used to hold a job at the Nice n Sleazy's Bar in Sauchiehall Street.[8][9] Today, Lightbody owns a small place in Glasgow and says he will never leave the country behind, though he resides in Belfast. He feels an attachment to the place, as it gave him his first taste of success.[10]
In the early days, Lightbody used to drink very heavily, and in his words, was "irrational, erratic, neurotic".[11] He had become frustrated by Snow Patrol's lack of financial success and felt lost and aimless. He started cursing at the audience and demolishing the band's equipment. He found himself breaking guitars they could not afford. This phase ran for two years. He later gave up drinking and now does it "for fun" and credits his bandmates for the turnaround.[12] The song "Disaster Button" (A Hundred Million Suns) deals with this topic. Though a musician, he cannot read music and has said that he "guesses" his way through chords.[13] He has a baritone vocal range.[14][15]
DJing[edit]
When at the University of Dundee, Lightbody met Nick DeCosemo, a fellow student, and the two became friends. DeCosemo also moved in Lightbody's Springfield apartment when he moved out of his parents' house. Nick had formed a club night called The Spaceship at the Tay Hotel. Along with Lightbody, friends Roy Kerr, Tom Simpson, and Anu Pillai also used to DJ there. They mixed up various styles of music as house, rock, and hip hop. They gained a loyal following and socialised together for about two years.[16][17][18]
Lightbody later co-wrote "What Are You Waiting For" on the album Strangest Things, with Anu Pillai for Freeform Five.[16][19] "What Are You Waiting For" was written before Snow Patrol released Final Straw, during a time when Lightbody was staying over at the band's place for a few days. Pillai had to literally drag a hungover Lightbody to the studio.
Lightbody has filled in for DJ Zane Lowe on his BBC radio show on one occasion during the 2007 takeovers. He was subsequently voted the best fill-in DJ amongst them by the listeners.[20] He has compiled two DJ mix albums, one in The Trip series: The Trip: Created by Snow Patrol, and another with bandmate Tom Simpson, called Late Night Tales: Snow Patrol on the Late Night Tales series.
Other projects[edit]
In addition to his work with Snow Patrol and DJing, Lightbody has contributed to other projects and works. He made a cameo appearance in the Game of Thrones episode, "Walk of Punishment", playing a Bolton soldier who begins singing, "The Bear and the Maiden Fair".
Musicianship[edit]
Influences[edit]
Growing up, Lightbody listened to artists like Super Furry Animals, Quincy Jones, Kool & the Gang, and Michael Jackson. He subsequently got into hard rock bands AC/DC and KISS as a teen, and then alternative acts like Sebadoh, Mudhoney, Pixies and Pavement.[34]
As a boy, he dreamed of becoming "the biggest rock star on the planet" like Bono, but he was never "cool".[13]
Songwriting[edit]
Lightbody started writing songs at the age of 15, in a little room under the kitchen of the family's house. He had few guitar lessons where he learnt the basics of the instrument but did not continue them, as he felt that one should not know any instrument "inside-out". He preferred to invent rather than use a formula. Today, he is not too fond of his earliest songs and thinks they "sucked". His songwriting style is mostly simple and basic, and he acknowledges that, saying he "[never] advanced past rudimentary". He feels the best way to write an honest song is to be simple, and that trying to complicate matters distorts the intended message. He believes the band has always tried to keep things as "simple and pure" as possible and has written from the heart. One of Lightbody's major inspirations to begin writing was notable Irish poet Seamus Heaney; which is alluded to on the B-side track on Snow Patrol's "The Planets Bend Between Us" single, named 'Reading Heaney To Me'. It also refers extensively to Heaney's poems throughout the lyrics.
Lightbody's lyrics typically deal with the topic of love. Although he considers himself a political person and has tried writing songs with such themes, he eventually abandoned his efforts as he found all of them awkward.[35] Lightbody has said that all of the songs from the first two albums; Songs for Polarbears and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up were written from personal experience.[36] His lyrics often criticise himself or are self-deprecatory. He has cited "Chocolate" as an example, which he wrote after cheating on his girlfriend. He also considers writing a sort of "therapy" for himself.[35]
Lightbody's songwriting has earned him much praise. In October 2009, he revealed that a certain "public figure", whom he wanted to remain nameless, told him that the band had written songs that were standards in today's world, and that Snow Patrol songs had become a part of the public consciousness. He compared their work to that of artists like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. Lightbody realises this and cites performances of their songs on reality TV shows as an example.[13]
Views on music industry[edit]
Lightbody has held the view that Snow Patrol may have had an easier time succeeding in the music industry than a band forming at the present time and attempting to become successful, given the changed state of the music industry, specifically how music is obtained by consumers. He questions the public's motive to buy the songs which they have already listened to, and blames Myspace for it.
Of Snow Patrol, Lightbody has said that all albums they managed to sell in the early days were from touring, as there were no unauthorized copies of their music available then. He believes if the current state of the industry continues, it would become impossible for bands starting out to become full-time.[37] Despite this, he observes that the band might not have survived if they had been successful early in their career, as they would have subsequently taken that success for granted.[38]
Recognition[edit]
Honours[edit]
In July 2012, Lightbody received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the University of Ulster at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum, Derry.[3] See also Snow Patrol Awards.
Lightbody was honoured in November 2018 at the Northern Ireland Music Prize with an award for outstanding contribution to music.
Lightbody was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to music and to charity in Northern Ireland.[50]
Lightbody was awarded the Freedom of the Borough of Ards and North Down on 30 August 2022.[51][52][53]