Antony Hegarty
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| Antony Hegarty | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1971 |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter |
| Associated acts | Antony and the Johnsons, Hercules and Love Affair |
Antony Hegarty (born 1971) is an English-Irish singer-songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.
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[edit] Biography
Born in Sussex, UK in 1971, Antony's family moved to Amsterdam in 1977, before settling in California in 1981. As a teenager he was influenced by the British synth pop of the time – in particular emotive singers such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Boy George. In 1990 he moved to Manhattan to attend the Experimental Theatre Wing of NYU and founded the performance collective Blacklips with creative partner Johanna Constantine.
British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label; the debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 1998. In 2001, Antony released a follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and a Current 93 song. Antony and the Johnsons' 2005 album I Am a Bird Now won the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize and was called Album of the Year by Mojo magazine.
He has notably worked with Lou Reed live as a second vocalist on Animal Serenade and performed on a number of tracks on The Raven. Antony also appears on the song "Lowlands Low" with Bryan Ferry on Hal Willner's Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys album, the song "Old Whore's Diet" on Rufus Wainwright's album Want Two and on the song "Beautiful Boyz" on CocoRosie's album Noah's Ark. In 2007, he lent his vocals to the track 'Blind' by Hercules and Love Affair, a New York based dance collective. He provides vocals on the Michael Cashmore EP, "The Snow Abides," and guest vocals on "The Beautiful Dancing Dust," a track on the Current 93 album, "Black Ships Ate The Sky." He also co-wrote a song on Joan as Police Woman's Real Life album, "I Defy", to which he also contributes vocals. He was featured as a performing artist in the film Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man about Leonard Cohen. Antony covers "If It Be Your Will", in a performance from Hal Willner's "Came So Far For Beauty" concerts. Antony also performed Cohen's "The Guests" during these concerts, and the song has also featured in Antony & The Johnsons live sets. Antony also worked with renowned guitarist Bernard Butler (formerly of Suede) on some acoustic sessions for XFM. The recording of this session can be found here.
Antony and the Johnsons collaborated with experimental film maker Charles Atlas and presented "TURNING" in Nov 2005 in Rome, London, Paris, Madrid, and Braga. The concert featured live video portraits of some of New York City's most enigmatic women. The Guardian called the piece "fragile, life affirming, and truly wonderful (five stars)" Le Monde in Paris hailed TURNING as "Concert- manifeste transsexuel". In 2006 Antony collaborated with Icelandic musician Björk in recording sessions in Jamaica and Iceland. The songs, "The Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile", feature on her 2007 album Volta.
As a side project, Antony also worked with DJ Andy Butler in the American dance group Hercules and Love Affair. His vocals can be found on five of the tracks on their self-titled debut album, Hercules and Love Affair, released in March 2008.
[edit] Trivia
It was reported during an interview with Björk that she mistook Antony for a 'black woman' the first time she heard his voice on CD. [1]
In late 2007 he was voted one of Out.com's 100 gay men and women to "rock" the year as a distinctive "balladeer" [2]
[edit] Articles
Erik Steinskog, "Voice of Hope: Queer Pop Subjectivities" in Trikster – Nordic Queer Journal #1, 2008.
