The Darkness
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the comic book, see The Darkness (comics).
| The Darkness | ||
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 The Darkness in concert
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  Lowestoft, Suffolk, England |
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| Genre(s) | Hard Rock, Rock, Glam Rock | |
| Years active | 2000–Present | |
| Label(s) | Atlantic Records Must Destroy |
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| Associated acts |
Onion Trump | |
| Website | TheDarknessRock.com | |
| Members | ||
| Dan Hawkins Ed Graham Richie Edwards |
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| Former members | ||
| Justin Hawkins Frankie Poullain |
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The Darkness are an English hard rock band. Their highly retro style of music seems to have been influenced by rock bands like AC/DC, Queen, Aerosmith, T. Rex, Van Halen and Def Leppard. They are best known for their former lead singer Justin Hawkins' soaring falsetto. Hawkins left the group in 2006.
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[edit] History
Originally from Kirkley High School, Lowestoft in Suffolk, brothers Justin Hawkins (vocals and guitar) and Dan Hawkins (guitar) found themselves in London where they met up with childhood friends, Frankie Poullain (bass) and Ed Graham (drums), and thus The Darkness was formed. Dan initially saw his brother's potential of being a frontman after Justin did an impressive recreation of Queen's 'Bohemian Rhapsody' at a New Year's Eve party in 1999, thrown by Justin and Dan's aunt in her Norfolk pub. Playing at first only in pubs and bars, their pyrotechnic guitar solos and over the top performances soon brought them to public knowledge.
[edit] Permission To Land
Their debut album, Permission to Land, went straight to number two in the UK charts upon its release on 7 July 2003, before going to number one and staying there for four weeks, eventually going on to sell one and a half million copies in the UK.
The success of this album led to heavy touring for the band, including European portions of the Summer Sanitarium Tour 2003. They then went on to headline the Carling Festival in 2004. The band won three Brit Awards in 2004 in response to the album, Best Group, Best Rock Group and Best Album. They also won two Kerrang! awards in 2004 for Best Live Act and Best British Band.
By late 2004 the band's constant media coverage had started to lead to a general public backlash of antipathy, with the commonly-heard claim that they were no more than a novelty band. [citation needed] The band seemed to respond to this criticism by touring the UK's top arenas on their Winter-National Tour. One part of the show included Justin climbing upon a life-sized tiger during Love on the Rocks with No Ice and being elevated above the audience whilst playing guitar. The majority of the shows on the tour sold out. [citation needed]
[edit] One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back
On May 23, 2005 bassist Frankie Poullain left the band during recording of their second album, One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back, apparently due to "musical differences". Frankie has disputed this version of events, claiming he was "frozen out" and forced to leave the band. On June 13, 2005, The Darkness announced that Richie Edwards, formerly Dan's guitar technician, had replaced Frankie as bassist.
In October 2005, a month before the album was to be officially released, Hawkins won an eBay auction for a copy of One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back for £350 under the username 'turbogunhawk'. He claimed he did this so that he could track down whoever sold the digitally-marked advance copy of the album and try to prevent it from happening again. [1]
"One Way Ticket", the first single from their second album, was released on 14 November 2005, debuting and peaking at number 8 on the UK Singles chart. The album itself was released on November 28, 2005, to somewhat mixed reviews. The album was produced by rock producer Roy Thomas Baker, best known for his work with Queen. Early sales figures in the UK showed the album had not sold as well its predecessor, Permission to Land. The album debuted at number 11, and fell to number 34 in the second week of its release. Although it has since reached platinum status, as opposed to their debut's five times platinum status, it could be argued that the level of their second album's sales, compared to those of their debut album, are another sign of the general public antipathy toward the band.
The second single taken from their second album was Is It Just Me?, released on February 20, 2006. The single gained a preliminary position of No. 6 all that week, but finally charted at number 8. Justin announced when on stage that their third single to be released from the album was "Girlfriend". Released May 22, Girlfriend charted at number 39, mainly due to the lack of radio play and promotion.
The band followed up their second album with a tour of the UK and Ireland, consisting of 12 dates in the major cities. The tour opened in Dublin's Point Depot on 4 February and closed in the Nottingham Arena on 20 February. Their World Tour, which followed, arrived in Australia and Japan after touring Scandinavia and Continental Europe in March.
[edit] Justin Hawkins' Departure
In August 2006, lead singer Justin Hawkins was admitted to a rehabilitation clinic in concern of his health, which caused the band to cancel several concerts. [1]. Around this same time the band confirmed that they were to start working on their 3rd album to be released early 2007. However on the 10th October 2006, The Sun newspaper reported that Justin Hawkins was leaving the band after completing his course of rehabilitation from alcohol and cocaine problems. [2]. The article, and rumour since, have also stated that the band would continue without him, possibly with Richie Edwards as the frontman.
In response to the story being reported by the media, the following message was posted on The Darkness' official forum: [3]
"We're sorry that you had to find this out through the newspapers, but we were hoping until the last minute that this - Justin's exit - wasn't going to happen. We - Dan, Ed and Richie - are still in total shock and can't say at this stage what the future holds. We would like to thank all our fans, partners and family for their continuous support. You will hear from us, once we know what we want to do..."
Justin recently stated that he might rejoin the band in the future after some solo work.
[edit] Discography
All chart positions are based on UK entries.
[edit] Albums
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[edit] EPs
- The Love EP (2002) [citation needed]
- I Believe in a Thing Called Love (2002)
[edit] Singles
| Release Date/Month | Song | UK Singles Chart | US Mainstream Rock | AUS Singles Chart | Album | B-Sides |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 2003 | "Get Your Hands Off My Woman" | 43 | 16 | Permission to Land | "Best Of Me" | |
| 16 June 2003 | "Growing On Me" | 11 | 41 | 46 | Permission to Land | "How Dare You Call This Love?" "Bareback" |
| 22 September 2003 | "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" | 2 | 9 | 40 | Permission to Land | "Makin Out" "Physical Sex" "Out Of My Hands" |
| December 2003 | "Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)" | 2 | - | "I Love You 5 Times" | ||
| March 2004 | "Love is Only a Feeling" | 5 | 22 | 35 | Permission to Land | "Planning Permission" "Curse Of The Tollund Man" |
| November 2005 | "One Way Ticket" | 8 | 17 | 36 | One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back | "Wanker" "Grief Hammer" |
| February 2006 | "Is It Just Me?" | 8 | 19 | 39 | One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back | "Shit Ghost" "Shake (Like A Lettuce Leaf)" |
| 22 May 2006 | "Girlfriend" | 39 | One Way Ticket to Hell...And Back | "Girlfriend (The Richie Edwards Remix Feat. DJ Tidy Brine)" "Girlfriend (Space Cowboy Hard & Fast Mix)" "Girlfriend (Freelance Hellraiser 'Screaming' J Hawkins' Mix)" "Girlfriend (British Whale Mix)" "Girlfriend (Space Cowboy House Mix)" |
[edit] Awards
2003
- kerrang! awards for Best Album (Permission To Land) and Best Live Act
- Metal Hammer 'Golden God' for Best Single (Get Your Hands Off My Woman)
- Mercury Music Prize nomination for Album of the Year (Permission To Land)
2004
- Kerrang! Awards for Best British Band and Best Live Act
- Metal Hammer 'Golden God' for Best Video (Love Is Only A Feeling)
- BASCA Ivor Novello Award for Songwriters of the Year
- BRIT Awards for Best Act, Best Rock Act and Best Album (Permission To Land)
- MTV Europe Music Award for Best MTV2 UK & Ireland Act
- IFPI Platinum Europe Award for sales in Europe in excess of 1,000,000 (triple Platinum)(Permission To Land)
- Nordoff-Robbins Tartan Clef for T In The Park Best Live Performance
- Elle Style Award for Most Stylish Band
- Meteor Ireland Music Award for Best Album (Permission To Land)
- Smash Hits! Pollwinners' Party for Best Rock Award
- RIAA Digital Sales Certifications Gold Award for 100,000 downloads (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)
- European Border Breakers Award for debut albums of European acts achieving the best sales outside of their country of origin in 2003 – presented at MIDEM 2004 (Permission To Land)
2005
- ASCAP Award for one of the Most Performed Works in the USA by a PRS member in 2004 (I Believe In A Thing Called Love)
[edit] References
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- thedarknessrock.com, the band's official website
- Official forum dedicated to the band.
- The Darkness lyrics
- The Darklings, fan-run forums.
