Alex Turner

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Alex Turner is an English singer, songwriter and guitarist, the frontman of the rock band Arctic Monkeys. He was born in 1986 in Sheffield and grew up in the High Green district, the only child of two teachers. His father taught music and was a fan of jazz and swing. His mother played Led Zeppelin, David Bowie and the Eagles. From the age of five he grew up next to the boy next door, Matt Helders, with whom he later formed the band. At sixteen he founded Arctic Monkeys with three friends.

Music and breakthrough

In 2005 the band attracted national attention, and their debut album Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not from 2006 became the fastest-selling debut album in British history. Favourite Worst Nightmare followed in 2007 and Humbug in 2009, for the first time with producer Josh Homme. After that came AM in 2013, among others, which is on Rolling Stone's list of the best albums of all time. The band tried out desert rock, indie pop, R&B and lounge. With Miles Kane he founded The Last Shadow Puppets in 2007. In 2010 he made the acoustic soundtrack album for the film Submarine.

Influence

Turner is known for his lyrics, which range from everyday realism to surreal wordplay. He has won seven Brit Awards and a Mercury Prize. In this way he has become a defining voice for British guitar music of the 2000s and beyond, a singer who could tell of ordinary life in an English city as a poet.

Listening

Mentioned in other articles

• Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not AlbumThe lyrics sketch the nightlife of young northern Englishmen, told by the nineteen-year-old Alex Turner.