John Grant Tickets

Short Biography

Critical acclaim for "Queen Of Denmark"...

"A work of transcendent wonder... Grant confronts romantic loss with astonishing depth of feeling... brutally funny... gorgeously bleak... truly beautiful"
MOJO - 5 Stars ***** (Album of the Month)

"the most gorgeous, Seventies-style folky, floaty, dreamy, trippy soft rock you've ever heard... a masterpiece"
Sunday Telegraph - 5 Stars *****

"Heartfelt and heartbreaking... Close to perfect"
The Independent On Sunday - 5 stars *****

"Queen Of Denmark takes John's accomplishments to a new level... without question one of the year's best albums"
The Sun - 5 Stars *****

"Grant on top form... Wry tales of personal redemption are backed by Midlake's 70s soft-rock, tuned to its most dreamy"
NME - 8/10

"an album of strength and beauty... Grant's vocals float over backing from Midlake at their most dreamy and lush"
Q - 4 Stars ****

"a colossus... these are songs with an air of vastness and contemplation recalling Dennis Wilson's masterpiece, Pacific Ocean Blue... Grant is a man whose time has come"
The Guardian - 4 Stars ****

"Grant is Karen Carpenter to Midlake's Supertramp: a painfully honest writer, able to render discomfiture in songs with the sweetness of nursery rhymes"
Uncut - 4 Stars ****

"A near-perfect marriage of Grant's warm baritone with Midlake's lush woodwind and keyboard textures"
The Independent - 4 stars ****

"while Grant can't attain perfection in his actual life, he gets pretty close in his art"
The Sunday Times - 4 Stars ****

"Queen of Denmark alchemises John Grant's complicated personal life into warm, infectiously charming classic rock"
Financial Times - 4 Stars ****

"a brilliant mixture of anger, confession, humour, melody and astonishing vocals... An extraordinary album"
WORD

"A masterpiece of soft, 70s melodies and sadness... Terrific. - The Observer

"a daring record: Seventies-sounding ballads full of lush wistfulness and unexpected humour" - Esquire

"The Czars' John Grant returns with a ravaged confessional honey of an album... Intoxicating." - The Independent (Information)

"A luxurious sounding collection... sweeping, epic ballds are Grant's forte" - Clash

In-depth Biography
John Grant began his career as frontman of the Czars, a Colorado-based band whose music split the difference between shoegaze, dream pop, and alternative country. Fueled by Grant’s songwriting and rich baritone vocals, the band released a pair of independent albums in the ‘90s before signing with Bella Union, a British label run by two former members of the Cocteau Twins. The Czars established a small international audience during the new millennium, but albums like Before...But Longer and The Ugly People vs. the Beautiful People failed to attract a larger following, and the group ultimately broke up in 2004.

After the split, Grant moved to New York and began working as a sideman for bands like Midlake and the Flaming Lips. He also continued writing songs. In 2009, members of Midlake joined Grant in the recording studio, serving as his backup band during the creation of his first solo project. The resulting album -- a quirky, cynical record titled Queen of Denmark -- was released by Bella Union in 2010. ~ Andrew Leahey, Rovi