John Grant

John Grant Artistfacts

  • July 25, 1968
  • John Grant started his music career as frontman of the Denver rock band The Czars. They released six studio albums, one EP, and three singles before breaking up in the mid 2000s.
  • The demise of The Czars led John Grant to abandon music for five years. His temporary occupation in the US during those years was interpreting medical Russian at a hospital. He told The Sun: "I wasn't very good at the beginning but I had the foundations to make it a profession."
  • Grant turned to recording and performing in 2010 with his debut solo LP Queen of Denmark, which was Mojo magazine's album of the year. While The Czars had just been a cult band, he has achieved as a solo act both chart success (Grey Tickles, Black Pressure went Top Five in the UK) and recognition from his peers (Grant was nominated for a Best International Male Solo Artist nomination at the 2014 BRITS alongside Eminem and Justin Timberlake).
  • John Grant had a difficult childhood growing up gay in an American God-fearing Midwestern town. He now sings openly, often with dark humor, about the landmark experiences that have shaped his life to date and the many relationship failures he has endured.
  • His music has been used in films such as Andrew Haigh's drama Weekend and Daisy Asquith's Queerama.
  • In 2016, Grant fronted BBC Radio 4's Reimagining The City, taking listeners around the Iceland's capital Reykjavik, where he has lived since 2012.
  • He is fluent in German, Russian, Spanish, and as a result of living there, Icelandic. Grant learned Russian in order to read all Dostoyevsky's works in their original form. He told Q magazine: "Russian is a stunning language. I don't have patience for a lot of things, but I do have patience when it comes to languages."
  • Asked by Q magazine if he collects anything, John Grant replied: "I collect interesting owls. Any type of owl, just not your run of the mill owl. I really like the tiny ceramic ones. I collect books about grammar and also collect fridge magnets."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Gene Simmons of Kiss

Gene Simmons of KissSongwriter Interviews

The Kiss rocker covers a lot of ground in this interview, including why there are no Kiss collaborations, and why the Rock Hall has "become a sham."

Michael Schenker

Michael SchenkerSongwriter Interviews

The Scorpions and UFO guitarist is also a very prolific songwriter - he explains how he writes with his various groups, and why he was so keen to get out of Germany and into England.

Daniel Lanois

Daniel LanoisSongwriter Interviews

Daniel Lanois on his album Heavy Sun, and the inside stories of songs he produced for U2, Peter Gabriel, and Bob Dylan.

Spooner Oldham

Spooner OldhamSongwriter Interviews

His keyboard work helped define the Muscle Shoals sound and make him an integral part of many Neil Young recordings. Spooner is also an accomplished songwriter, whose hits include "I'm Your Puppet" and "Cry Like A Baby."

Songs Discussed in Movies

Songs Discussed in MoviesSong Writing

Bridesmaids, Reservoir Dogs, Willy Wonka - just a few of the flicks where characters discuss specific songs, sometimes as a prelude to murder.

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)

Max Cavalera of Soulfly (ex-Sepultura)Songwriter Interviews

The Brazilian rocker sees pictures in his riffs. When he came up with one of his gnarliest songs, there was a riot going on.