John Grant

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John Grant (born July 25, 1968) is an American singer-songwriter and former member of the Denver-based alternative rock band the Czars.

In 2010, he began working as a Czar and recorded six studio albums.

Queen of Denmark's debut solo album in 2010 was voted Mojo's best album of the year.

Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, his third studio album, received widespread critical attention in 2015, and peaked at number 5 in the UK albums chart.

Love is Magic, his fourth album, was released in 2018 and ranked in the top 20 in the United Kingdom.

Early life

On July 25, 1968, John William Grant was born in Buchanan, Michigan. His mother (died 1995) was a housewife, while his father was an engineer. He has three brothers and grew up in a conservative Methodist church that was incompatible with his growing homosexuality. The family moved to Parker, Colorado, when he was 12 years old. In high school, he was bullied both physically and emotionally. He'd sing openly about the landmark experiences that impacted him and influenced his life; Grant didn't get comfortable with his sexuality until his mid-20s; it was "clear" that those people were going to Hell. In 1988, Grant went to Germany to continue his language studies. "Ministry, Skinny Puppy, poppy stuff like Scritti Politti and Siouxsie, as well as the Cocteau Twins and the Banshees were among the bands he listened to at the time."

Personal life

Grant immigrated to Iceland in 2013 and has been living in Reykjavk since. In 2022, he was granted citizenship in Iceland. He is openly gay, as he has demonstrated in his songs, and was in a feud with an unidentified Icelandic graphic designer. He can converse fluent German, Icelandic, Russian, and Spanish, as well as conversational French and Swedish.

Grant's time with the Czars were troubling, as he grappled with heroin and alcohol use as well as severe anxiety as a result of his adult relationship with the former. During his musical hiatus between 2006 and 2010, he lived in New York City, where he served as a waiter at the Gramercy Tavern and as a medical interpreter for Russian patients in a hospital. He also served as a record store clerk and flight attendant. He felt compelled to write music at this moment and began working to combat the addictions that had been so addictive during his time with the Czars.

When on tour in 2011, Grant lost his passport and was not able to board a flight from London to Verona; after remembering that the day's edition of The Times newspaper featured his photograph and details of an interview, 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.

Grant revealed he had been HIV-positive while living in Sweden the year before in 2012. In the lyrics to his song "Ernest Borgnine," he is reflected by his illness. He has since opened up about his illness and revealed, "I was messing about with my life and indulgening in addictive habits, and ended up with a disease that could have certainly been prevented." When I consider the fact that millions of children in Africa have HIV and who have never had to choose, it makes me wonder why I let it happen to myself. All the things are in the song.

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Career

Grant returned to the United States in 1994 and co-founded The Czars, a Denver-based alternative rock band. Grant, the band's lead singer, pianist, keyboardist, and primary songwriter, enjoyed critical success and released six studio albums, but commercial recognition was difficult. Grant met with English musician Simon Raymonde, a member of Grant's favorite band, the Cocteau Twins, and although he wasn't expecting new shows at the time, he saw promise in The Czars and decided to produce two of their albums. The band broke in 2006 after launching Sorry I Made You Cry in 2004. Grant began a four-year absence after serving in New York City as a waiter, medical interpreter for Russian patients in a hospital, record store clerk, and flight attendant. In December 2014, the Czars' Best Of album was released.

During his stay in New York City, Grant had a chance meeting with Midlake, a Texas-based folk rock band that eventually forced him to return to music. They signed him to record and produce Queen of Denmark, his first solo album on the Bella Union label in April 2010. Grant's "deeply personal album" is debating his heroin use as well as his attempts to reconcile his homosexuality. In an interview, he referred to the Midlake people as his "brothers." Queen of Denmark was given critical acclaim by the British music magazine Mojo, which also nominated Grant for the Best Breakthrough Act Award and named him for its Best Breakthrough Act Award. In his 2011 film Weekend, filmmaker Andrew Haigh used several songs from Queen of Denmark.

Grant encountered Birgir rarinsson (aka Biggi Veira) of Iceland's Icelandic electronic pop group GusGus while on a trip to Iceland to perform at the Airwaves Festival. The electronic, synthesized dance sounds that he was looking for and experimenting with in Veira's studio formed a large part of his second album Pale Green Ghosts, which Veira himself produced. Sinéad O'Connor, an Irish singer, appeared on three tracks as the guest vocalist on three tracks. Grant was quickly and profoundly touched by Iceland's people and landscape, so much that he now has a permanent home in Reykjavk.

Pale Green Ghosts debuted in March 2013 to critical acclaim. It was Rough Trade Records' Album of the Year, and it came in at No. One. 2 on The Guardian's list of the Best Albums of 2013. At the Q Awards, there was a nomination for Best Solo Artist, as well as David Bowie and Laura Marling as other candidates. In 2014, Grant received a nomination for Best International Male Solo Artist at the British Academy of Music, while translating sgeir Trausti's album D' daugn. In the Silence, an English version, was released in October.

Grant co-wrote "No Prejudice," the Icelandic entry for Pollapönk's Eurovision Song Contest that year. On the 40th anniversary of Elton John's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road's launch, he appeared on "Sweet Painted Lady" on the radio. He appeared on the album The Feast of The Broken Heart by Hercules & Love Affair, and was also named Man of the Year by Attitude magazine in 2014. He joined British company Elbow on the North American leg of their tour in 2014. Fiona Brice arranged tracks from his first two albums for a concert on BBC Radio 6 Music in October, accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra. This was released as an album titled John Grant and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra: Live in Concert. Following his UK concert hall tour with the Royal Northern Sinfonia, Grant concluded 2014 with rave reviews. According to Clash magazine, the performance "may possibly be one of the best gigs of all time at London's Royal Festival Hall." At the Royal Albert Hall that night, he worked with Alison Goldfrapp on Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood's "Some Velvet Morning."

Grant's third solo album, Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, was released in 2015. It was recorded in Dallas and produced by John Congleton and featured guest vocalists Tracey Thorn and Amanda Palmer and drummer Budgie. NME, The Guardian, and Mojo all praised the album. Grant appeared on British talk show Later... with Jools Holland in early October before embarking on a worldwide tour. Several backing singers and guest drummer Budgie opened a show at the Hammersmith Apollo in London, earning a five-star review in the national press. He appeared at the Glastonbury and Latitude festivals in July before embarking on a world tour. He toured through much of the United States and Europe the following year. He appeared on BBC Two's Later Tonight with Jools Holland in October of this year.

Grant co-wrote and produced the song "I Don't Want To Hurt You" with Robbie Williams, which was on Williams' album The Heavy Entertainment Show in 2016. In 2016, he held a solo show at the Royal Albert Hall, which received raves. Richard Hawley, who performed "Disappointing" from Grey Tickles, Black Pressure, welcomed him on stage. Cate Le Bon, who performed "Torn Between Two Lovers" (a song made popular by Mary MacGregor) and Kylie Minogue in a performance of "Glacier") were both present in this performance. In December that year, Minogue invited Grant back to the Royal Albert Hall to perform with her on "Confide In Me" for A Kylie Christmas. On the HBO series Looking, two songs from 2013 called "Black Belt" and "Pale Green Ghosts." Grant was the subject of BBC Radio 4's Reimagining the City, where he welcomed listeners around his new home city, Reykjavk, on December 3.

Grant spoke at the Hay Literary Festival in 2017 to address her autobiography Art Sex Music, which had been named Book of the Year by Sunday Times, Telegraph, and Rough Trade Records. In 2017, Grant revealed that he had commissioned Little, Brown and Company to produce his own autobiography. As part of Hull's year as UK City Of Culture, 2017 saw him curate North Atlantic Flux: Sounds From Smoky Bay, a four-day festival honoring the best of Nordic and Scandinavian history. The festival, which was part of Curated Place, went on to win three awards at The Drum UK Event Awards, including the coveted Cultural Event of the Year. Susanne Sundfr, GusGus, Tonik Ensemble, Nils Bech, Adelle Stripe, Wrangler, and Grant himself were among the festival's highlights, which culminated in a two-hour Q&A hosted by writer and poet Adelle Stripe, who later described as "enthralling" during the two-hour Q&A. Grant returned to the Royal Albert Hall in July for a fund-raising event on behalf of Stonewall's Elizabeth Fraser; the evening marked the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offenses Act 1967. As part of the BBC's Late Night Proms, Grant spent a month as part of a distinguished line up honoring Scott Walker's music. Jules Buckley's Heritage Orchestra welcomed special guests Grant, Susanne Sundfr, Richard Hawley, and Jarvis Cocker to perform a series of Walker's songs. The performance was shown on BBC Four, BBC Radio 3, and BBC Radio 6 Music. Grant also performed "Mountaineers," a duet with Susanne Sundfr for her album Music for People in Danger, which was released in August 2017.

Grant worked with Guy Garvey to produce a duet version of Elbow's "Kindling (Fickle Flame), which was released in September 2017. Grant was a guest vocalist on The Great Distraction, an album by Leeds-based art-electro rock quintet Vessels. Grant's single "Erase the Tapes" was released in September 2017.

Grant spent time on a side project called Creep Show, a joint venture with Wrangler members Stephen Mallinder, Phil Winter, and Benge. The group's first single "Modern Parenting" from their album Mr Dynamite was released on January 30, while the full album was released on March 16, 2018.

Grant unveiled a brief teaser video on social media on July 9, 2018. Love Is Magic, a song of the same name taken from the new album, was released as a digital download and lyric video the following day. Love Is Magic was released in October with scathing feedback. The Independent rated the album as "sardonic wit and heart-stopping drops of pure honesty," and NME praised it as an album of "arch brilliance" with "no room for quiet reflection in a 5 out of 5 star review. After going on tour in the United Kingdom with a full band including Budgie on drums, Grant went on tour in the United Kingdom before embarking on a world tour from November.

Grant released "The Only Baby" as a stand-alone single in January 2021, as well as a accompanying music video. He released "Boy From Michigan," his latest album under the same name in March. The single "Billy" was released in May, the second from the new album. The album was released on June 25 and received acclaim.

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