Richard Hawley

Writing and crooning songs largely based on and around the people and places of his home town Sheffield, the bequiffed Richard Hawley has established a distinct, individual and highly distinguished niche as a social commentator. A fine guitarist, Hawley joined his first band Treebound Story while still at school, but made his first real dent on public consciousness with Longpigs during the Brit pop boom of the 1990s. He later joined his long-time friends Jarvis Cocker and Steve Mackey in Pulp before launching his solo career with the Late Night Final album in 2001. Hawley followed it in 2003 with Lowedges, a title referring to a suburb of Sheffield, that won widespread critical acclaim and underlined his commitment to creating lush vignettes depicting everyday life in the city. The album Coles Corner - another Sheffield reference - was even more poignant and successful, winning the 2006 Mercury Music Prize and turning the self-effacing Hawley into a major star. His sixth album Truelove's Gutter (2009) continued the themes of melancholy and colourful characterisations that have served him so well. He has also collaborated with various people, most unexpectedly Lisa Marie Presley.