Wet Leg
Wet Leg are a British indie rock group from the Isle of Wight, founded in 2019 by Rhian Teasdale and Hester Chambers. They debuted with the single "Chaise Longue" in 2021. Their self-titled debut album debuted in 2022 at number one on the UK Albums Chart, Australia's ARIA Albums Chart and the Irish Albums Chart. The album was shortlisted for the 2022 Mercury Prize. At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, Wet Leg won Best Alternative Music Album for their debut and Best Alternative Music Performance for "Chaise Longue", and were nominated for Best New Artist.[1][2] They also won Best New Artist and Best British Group at the 2023 Brit Awards.
For their eponymous album, see Wet Leg (album).
Wet Leg
History[edit]
Early lives[edit]
Merseyside-born Teasdale moved from Formby to the Isle of Wight when she was eight.[3] She performed for many years on the Isle of Wight as a local musician and pianist,[4] and prior to forming Wet Leg, was known as RHAIN and was linked to the music scene in Bristol.[5] As RHAIN, Teasdale performed her song "Humdrum Drivel" in 2013.[6] In 2014 she was photographed by Cosmopolitan magazine while attending the Isle of Wight music festival.[7]
2019–present: band beginnings and first studio album[edit]
Teasdale and Chambers first met at Platform One College of Music on the Isle of Wight while studying.[8] After ten years of friendship, they formed a band in 2019 under the name Wet Leg,[9] and later signed with Domino Recording Company.[10][11] Several different explanations have been given for how the band name came to be. According to a December 2021 interview, they chose the name by playing a game of picking different emoji combinations.[12] In an interview with Diffus posted on YouTube in April 2022, the band stated that their name came from an Isle of Wight epithet to describe non-locals on the island; those who had crossed the Solent to reach the isle were said to have a wet leg from getting off the boat.[13]
The band's debut single, "Chaise Longue", was released on 15 June 2021,[14] and gained media notice for earning millions of streams and video views.[15] Their second single, "Wet Dream", was released on 28 September 2021. Variety noted, "It's rare that a new group releases two songs and they're both great". They appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on BBC2, on 30 October 2021.[16] On 29 November 2021, they announced their debut self-titled album, released on 8 April 2022 via Domino. The same day, Wet Leg released the double-single "Too Late Now" / "Oh No".[17]
In 2022, they toured the UK playing songs from their first album. It was then announced that they would tour Australia and New Zealand as the support band for Harry Styles's Oceanic leg of Love On Tour in 2023.[18] Wet Leg appeared on Later... with Jools Holland in November 2021 and returned for the first part of his next series in May 2022.[19]
In an interview with Andrew Ford of ABC in Australia in July 2022, Wet Leg clarified that a comment about a completed second album in a previous interview[20] was "a big joke". "We haven't got a second album; we haven't had any time to write".[21]
Wet Leg received three nominations at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Best Alternative Music Performance ("Chaise Longue") and Best Alternative Music Album.[1] Of these, they won the Grammys for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Alternative Music Album.[22] Wet Leg won Best New Artist and Group of the Year at the Brit Awards 2023 where they performed "Chaise Longue" with the prog Morris dance troup, Boss Morris, and their Morris beasts.[23]
Wet Leg performed at Coachella in April 2023,[24] where they were joined on-stage by Dave Grohl during their performance of "Ur Mum".[25]
On 6 July 2023, Wet Leg remixed Depeche Mode's track "Wagging Tongue", the second single from their Memento Mori album.[26]
Current members
Current touring musicians
Former touring musicians and songwriting
Wet Leg discography
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