Arctic Monkeys (formed 2002)
Arctic Monkeys are an English indie rock band from Sheffield, hailed as one of the first bands to use social media to gain mainstream attention, and best known for their first single 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor'.
Formation: In 2001, both Alex Turner and Jamie Cook received guitars for Christmas and proceeded to teach themselves how to play. The formed the band with school friends Andy Nicholson, Matt Helders and Glyn Jones, however Jones left soon after the formation. The Artic Monkeys performed their first gig at The Grapes in Sheffield. As they began to manufacture demo CDs, their fan base set up a MySpace account - without notifying the band. A photographer from Sheffield, Mark Bull, filmed one of the live performances from the band and aired 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' on his own website. On 30th May 2005, the Artic Monkeys released their debut single, 'Five Minutes with Arctic Monkey', which featured a rerecording of 'Fake Tales of San Francisco' and 'From the Ritz to the Rubble' as a B-Side. The release led to them appearing at Reading Festival on one of the smaller stages, yet they drew in a huge crowd and the band were signed to Domino Records in June 2005.
Career: Following the signing of their record deal, The Arctic Monkeys released 'I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor' on 14th October 2005, and debuted at the top of the UK singles chart. They followed up this success with the release of 'When The Sun Goes Down' on 16th January 2006. This second single received similar success as their previous entry. On 23rd January 2006, The Artic Monkeys released 'Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'. The album received universal acclaim and topped the UK album charts and Billboard's Independent album charts. On 18th April 2007, the Artic Monkeys released their second studio album, 'Favourite Worst Nightmare'. Once again, the album received glowing reviews and reached the seventh spot on Billboard's 200 list. The band then embarked on a world tour, which was recorded and released on 3rd November 2008 as 'At the Apollo' which was largely well received. The Arctic Monkey's third studio album, 'Humbug', was released on 19th August 2009. While the album received universal glowing reviews, it dropped to number 15 on Billboard's 200 - however it still topped the US Independent Albums charts and came fourth on the US Top Alternative Albums charts. As with all previous entrees, it topped the UK albums chart. Between January and February 2011, the Arctic Monkeys got to work recording material for their fourth studio album. On its release on 6th June 2011, 'Suck It and See' performed just as well as their previous efforts, with high praise and good charting. When their fifth studio album, 'AM' was released on 6th September 2013, it topped 15 album charts worldwide - four of which were part of Billboard's Independent and Alternative charts. It also reached the sixth spot on Billboard's 200.
Biography by Contactmusic.com
