The Darkness would be easy to write off as a pastiche. Indeed, the overblown, Rock-with-a-capital-R excesses they borrow from so many of their predecessors would come across as a parody if it weren’t so obvious that The Darkness mean every single scissor kick, windmill, strut and pout with every fibre of their being.
If the band’s origin story was any more on-brand, nobody would believe it. All it took was one tremendously theatrical karaoke rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody from Justin Hawkins on the eve of the new millennium and The Darkness was born. The line-up was rounded out by Justin’s brother Dan on guitar, Frankie Poullain on bass and Ed Graham on drums.
The Darkness’s entire existence was built on their love for unfashionably bombastic hard rock: glittery skin-tight spandex, piercing falsettos, shredded guitar solos and stage moves cribbed from the most overblown hair metal bands of the late ’70s and ’80s. Initially written off in some corners as a joke band, The Darkness quickly proved they could innovate more than imitate.
A word-of-mouth chain reaction led to The Darkness becoming one of the most talked about bands in the UK by the time their debut album arrived in 2003. Permission To Land was a direct riposte to everything else in rock music at the time, a devoutly untrendy album that took huge hooks and even bigger choruses and dressed them up in spandex. Its utter lack of irony proved massively refreshing and I Believe In A Thing Called Love and Get Your Hands Off Of My Woman hitting the higher echelons of the singles chart.
The Darkness came close to a Christmas No.1 with Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End), stopping just shy at No.2. Unfortunately, their second album One Way Ticket to Hell ...and Back failed to match the success of their debut and by the time the ensuing tour had oreached its climax, the band had started to unravel.
Justin Hawkins checked into rehab to deal with drug and alcohol addiction and subsequently left the band. The remaining members formed The Stone Gods, while Hawkins embarked on a solo career, scoring a UK top ten single with a cover of Sparks’ This Town Ain’t Big Enough For The Both Of Us. He then formed a new band Hot Leg, who released one album before going quiet.
The Darkness announced that they had reformed in 2011 and hit the road almost immediately. Their third album Hot Cakes followed in 2012, with Last Of Our Kind arriving in 2015, featuring new drummer Rufus Taylor (son of Queen drummer Roger).
Pinewood Smile arrived in 2017, with the band then embarking on a UK headline tour as well as opening for Guns N’ Roses on their European tour. Their 2019 album Easter Is Cancelled peaked at No.10 in the UK Top 10 and hit No.1 on the rock and metal album charts. That same year, the band provided the theme song for the cBeebies show Catie's Amazing Machines.
In June 2021, the band announced a new album Motorheart, set for release in October of that year. To coincide with the new album, The Darkness confirmed UK tour dates for November and December 2021 with British Lion (featuring Iron Maiden's Steve Harris) as support.
