Triple BRIT Award winner Rag’n’Bone Man is heading to Yorkshire next summer for two incredible headline shows. The Human and Life By Misadventure hit-maker will play The Piece Hall, Halifax on Friday June 23 and Scarborough Open Air Theatre on Saturday June 24.
Sussex-born Rory Graham grew up hearing his mum and dad play an assortment of blues, soul and jazz albums. When he attended his first raves as a teenager, he found himself drawn to ragga and jungle music, especially artists such as Congo Natty and Shy FX & The Ragga Twins.
Although Graham initially began MCing, he started to sing as well in his 20s and taught himself to play piano and guitar. Around that time, his tastes in music slipped back toward blues – particularly classic figures like Muddy Waters – which he began to fuse with elements of hip hop and grime.
A prolific underground artist for several years, Graham honed a ferocious live reputation. In 2014, he released the EP Wolves followed by another called Disfigured in 2015.
Graham rose to prominence under the Rag’n’Bone Man moniker in 2016 with the release of the global smash hit Human, which would appear on his full-length debut of the same name the following year. Showcasing his characteristic blend of traditional blues and hip hop, and introducing the world to his powerfully deep vocals, the track peaked at No.2 on the official UK singles chart and spent one week shy of an entire year on the list.
At the 2017 BRITs, Rag’n’Bone Man was named the British Breakthrough Act and received the Critics’ Choice Award. That year, he also hit the road with his Human Tour and joined forces with the virtual band Gorillaz on their song The Apprentice.
Continuing to collaborate, Rag’n’Bone Man released a handful of tracks in 2018 and also embarked on his Sounds Of The City Tour, before teaming up with Calvin Harris in 2019 for the No.2-charting single Giant.
Life by Misadventure, Graham’s second #1 album with Columbia Records that came out in May 2021 and spent 7 weeks in the Top 10, is the culmination of more than a year spent writing and working with some of music’s true greats in London and Nashville.
The album boasted a renewed sense of purpose and an entirely new energy in singles such as 'All You Ever Wanted', 'Anywhere Away From Here', 'Alone' and 'Crossfire'.