Antony and the Johnsons

Antony and the Johnsons is a union of The Johnsons band and Antony Hegarty, the vocalist. His unique figure overshadows the other members of the band on the one hand, and on the other hand makes it widely famous guaranteeing an incomparable sound to their music. Antony was born in England, but by the time he was ten he and his family moved first to Holland and then to the States to settle down in California. As a gift for his eleventh birthday, Antony received his first keyboard. Music got him so deeply interested that he found time and skills to sing with his school choir and several rock groups. Later, he studied the performing arts at a university and began playing in plays in his student years. In 1995 he met The Johnsons. In 1998 they started working permanently together as Antony and the Johnsons. The new formation’s first album was Blue Angel, a record that has never been officially released. In 1999, Antony and the Johnsons held a number of concerts along with Current 93. This band’s only permanent member David Tibet was deeply impressed by Blue Angel and made a proposal to Antony and his outfit to release a split single. The offer was accepted as the musicians issued the single Cripple and the Starfish.

Later in 1999, Antony and the Johnsons were instructed by David during the preparation of their own debut album to be released in spring 2000 under the band’s title. It was a considerably gloomy record with just the track Hitler in my Heart alone sufficient to exemplify the general slant of this work. The other composition, Rapture, was featured on the soundtrack to Steve Buscemi’s Animal Factory. After that, Antony was invited to perform this song before a hall full of prisoners. After the release of the LP I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, Antony and the Johnsons spent two years working in the studio on the new material from time to time going out on a tour. 2003 saw them make another split work with Current 93, Live at St. Olave's. The record featured the band’s two new songs, the very short You Stand Above Me, and the beautiful The Lake, an adaption of Edgar Alan Poe’s poem. In 2003, Antony and the Johnsons signed a contract with the American label Secretly Canadian. This company release the new version of their first able to make it available for a wider audience.

In 2004, the same label issued one more EP made by Antony and the Johnsons, The Lake to present three songs. The unexpectedly cheerful mood of The Horror Has Gone was considered to signify the end of prolonged depression suffered by the group’s leader Antony. In February 2005, Antony and the Johnsons enlarged their discography with the sophomore long player, I Am A Bird Now. The album was prepared with the help of several celebrated performers including Lou Reed and Boy Geroge. This record met great acclaim in the UK and brought the band a Mercury Music Prize. After a significantly long hiatus, the musicians resumed productive stage and studio work. In 2008 they released the EP Another World, composed of five songs. This release helped the fans kill time while waiting for the new full format record. The Crying Light hit the stores early in 2009. Again, the main character was Antony who did his best to amaze the public with his extraordinary vocals and sincerity. Antony’s fans did not have to wait for the musician’s next work for a long time: the record titled Swanlights saw the light in 2010. Moreover, the band issued the eponymous book with illustrations, which creates an incredible effect together with the studio work Swanlights. Definitely, the long play will be enjoyed by the band’s old fans and by those who are just going to get acquainted with Antony And The Johnsons’ creativity.