Kaiser Chiefs

Kaiser Chiefs Artistfacts

  • 1996-
    Ricky WilsonLead vocals2000-
    Nick HodgsonDrums, percussion2000-2012
    Andrew WhiteGuitar2000-
    Simon RixBass2000-
    Nick BainesKeyboards2000-
    Vijay MistryDrums, percussion2013-
  • Kaiser Chiefs were known by two other names before taking on their current moniker. First, the band was named after a hamlet in Yorkshire called Ruston Parva. After little success, the band dropped the "Ruston" from their name and was known simply as Parva. Parva scored a record deal with the Mantra label but were left in limbo when Mantra folded. Once again, they changed their name, this time deliberately misspelling the name of South African football club Kaizer Chiefs to form "Kaiser Chiefs" and the current incarnation of the band was created.
  • Most Kaiser Chiefs fans don't know that singer Ricky Wilson has a hereditary skin disorder called rosacea. In 2005, he told The Observer that he's tried creams and lotions to help his conditions but most of them just make it worse. Wilson said he doesn't worry about it much anymore and that he's "given up on trying to look good."
  • The motorbike at the beginning of the Kaiser Chiefs' song "Saturday Night" is owned by musician and former Blur guitarist Graham Coxon. In the liner notes of the band's debut album Employment, Coxon is credited with "playing" the bike on the track.
  • To promote their 2011 album The Future Is Medieval, Kaiser Chiefs offered fans a chance to create their own version of the disc. Band enthusiasts could pick 10 tracks from a list of 20 and also pick the artwork for their record. Fans could also share their version with others and earn one pound for each copy sold.
  • During Kaiser Chiefs first American tour, frontman Ricky Wilson was seen rubbing shoulders with American Idol judge Paula Abdoul. Keyboardist Nick "Peanut" Baines told Rolling Stone that the fact that Abdoul was hanging out with them was "quite cool and quite strange." Peanut went on to say that Abdoul was flirting with Wilson, but Wilson was "having none of it."
  • In 2008, Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson expressed his disappointment with Oasis and lashed out at the band, saying that they've "disappeared up their own arse." Wilson also said that he thought Kaiser Chiefs would be Oasis' successor because Oasis "thinks they're Led Zeppelin, but they're not."
  • Kaiser Chiefs singer Ricky Wilson has a quick cameo in the 2011 movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. In the film, Wilson can be seen fleeing from Lord Voldemort's bounty hunters. A source close to British magazine NME said that Wilson was "a huge Potter fan" and that he was spotted "skipping around on set."
  • Nick Hodgson quit the Kaiser Chiefs at the end of 2012 to work full-time as a producer and songwriter at his 'Chewdio' studios in East London. He explained to NME that he'd always planned to leave the band by the age of 35: "I'd always thought I'd do it. I like studios a lot, I like producing, I like finding bands, I like working with bands, I like writing songs. And now I can do them all. It’s been 10 years on the road. When I was a kid I reckoned I’d love to be a drummer in a band, and then a record guy."
  • Ricky Wilson made his debut as a coach on BBC1 talent show The Voice on January 11, 2014. He explained: "I love my band and I want our new record to get noticed. I know that everyone is going, 'He thinks he's going to sell more records and more tickets.' And that is why I'm doing it. I'm not a f---ing idiot."
  • Kaiser Chief's Nick Baines completed the 2016 Great North Run half-marathon in 1 hour and 34 minutes, putting him in the top three percent of runners.
  • The Kaiser Chiefs have a ritual before each gig; they gather in a huddle and listen to Paul Simon's "You Can Call Me Al."

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