John Grant (musician)
John William Grant (born July 25, 1968) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. He first became known as the co-founder, lead singer, pianist, and primary songwriter for the alternative rock band the Czars. After releasing six albums from 1994 to 2006, the band split up and Grant retired for four years before starting a solo career.
John Grant
July 25, 1968
Buchanan, Michigan, U.S.
- Singer
- musician
- songwriter
- Vocals
- piano
- synthesizer
1994–2006; 2010–present
Creep Show
Grant's debut solo album Queen of Denmark (2010) was named the best album of the year by Mojo, and his second album Pale Green Ghosts (2013) was named the best album of the year by Rough Trade. His third album Grey Tickles, Black Pressure (2015) received widespread critical acclaim and peaked at No. 5 on the UK albums chart, while his fourth album Love Is Magic (2018) entered the top 20 in the UK. His fifth album Boy from Michigan (2021) also received acclaim. He also released the live album John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Live in Concert (2014), in which he performed songs from his first two albums while accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
Grant is also known for his collaborations with varied musicians such as Budgie, CMAT, Elbow, Elton John, Goldfrapp, GusGus, Hercules and Love Affair, Kylie Minogue, Midlake, Robbie Williams, Sinéad O'Connor, Tracey Thorn and Linda Thompson (singer). Since 2018, he has been the lead vocalist of Creep Show, a side project he formed with the members of rock band Wrangler.
Early life[edit]
John William Grant was born in Buchanan, Michigan, on July 25, 1968, the son of a housewife mother (died 1995)[1] and an engineer father. He has three siblings,[1] and grew up in a conservative Methodist household which was at odds with his realization that he was gay.[2] When he was 12 years old, the family moved to Parker, Colorado.[3] He was bullied both physically and emotionally in high school,[4] and would later write snarky deadpan lyrics about these experiences.[4]
Grant did not feel comfortable with his sexuality until his mid-20s, having been raised in an environment where he was taught that "those people were going to Hell".[2] He moved to Germany in 1988 to continue his study of languages,[4] and began listening to artists such as Siouxsie and the Banshees, Ministry, Scritti Politti, Skinny Puppy, and the Cocteau Twins.[5] Although he was pained for a long time by the fact that his mother called him a "disappointment" on her deathbed and then died soon after, he later came to terms with the experience and said it reminded him of something he would see in his favorite British dark comedy shows.[6]
Career[edit]
The Czars (1994–2006)[edit]
In 1994, Grant returned to the U.S. and co-founded the Denver-based alternative rock band The Czars.[7][8] With Grant as its lead singer, pianist, keyboardist, and primary songwriter, the band enjoyed critical success and released six studio albums, but commercial recognition proved elusive. Grant met with English musician Simon Raymonde, a member of one of Grant's favorite bands, the Cocteau Twins; Raymonde had recently started the record label Bella Union and, although he was not particularly looking for new acts at that time, he saw potential in The Czars and agreed to produce two of their albums. After releasing Sorry I Made You Cry in 2004, the band split in 2006.[9] Grant then took a four-year hiatus, which he spent working in New York City as a waiter at the Gramercy Tavern, a medical interpreter for Russian patients in a hospital, a record store clerk, and a flight attendant.[1][2] The Czars' Best Of album was released in December 2014.[10]
Personal life[edit]
Grant moved to Iceland and settled in Reykjavík in 2013, subsequently receiving Icelandic citizenship in 2022.[54] He has explored his homosexuality in his lyrics, and was previously in a relationship with an Icelandic graphic designer whose identity was not disclosed.[1][55] He is a noted polyglot; in addition to his native English, he is fluent in German, Icelandic, Russian, and Spanish, and can hold basic conversations in French and Swedish.[3][4][56]
Grant's years with the Czars were troubling as he battled a drug and alcohol addiction, as well as severe anxiety, having suffered with the latter throughout his adult life.[57] He lived in New York City during his hiatus from music between 2006 and 2010, working as a waiter at the Gramercy Tavern,[1] a medical interpreter for Russian patients in a hospital,[2] a record store clerk, and a flight attendant.[1][58] He felt compelled to continue writing music during this time, and began the process of confronting the addictions that had been so destructive during his time with the Czars.[59]
While on tour in 2011, Grant lost his passport and was not allowed to board a flight from London to Verona; after remembering that the day's edition of The Times newspaper featured his image and details of an interview on the front page, he used a copy of the newspaper as a form of ID and obtained an emergency passport from London's American embassy, which allowed him to board a later flight.[60]
In 2012, while performing with Hercules and Love Affair at the Meltdown Festival in London, Grant revealed that he had been diagnosed as HIV-positive while living in Sweden the year before.[1] His experience with the disease is reflected in the lyrics to his song "Ernest Borgnine".[12] He has since spoken candidly of his diagnosis and explained, "I was messing around with my life and indulging in destructive behaviours and ended up getting a disease that could have totally been avoided. When I look at the fact that there are millions of children in Africa with HIV, who never got to choose, it makes me need to figure out why I let that happen to myself. That song is saying all those things."[56][61]