He may be young, but he has already broken world records and starred for a long time at the top of the British charts. Let's get to know Alex Turner, the singer, writer, and leader of the "Arctic Monkeys".
(Photo: Facebook)
= His full name is Alexander David Turner and he was born on January 6th, 1986 in Sheffield England.
= He is the only son of a pair of musical parents and teachers. His mother is a German teacher and his father is a physics and music teacher.
= His parents loved music and exposed him from an early age to artists and bands like: "The Beatles", "The Beach Boys", "David Bowie", "Led Zeppelin" and "The Eagles".
= Alex's father was also a "Big Band" player and played the saxophone, trumpet, and piano, so there were always musical instruments in the house.
= Turner himself learned to play the piano until the age of 8 and at the age of 15 his father bought him an electric guitar for his birthday.
= In high school he grew up with his good friends Matt Helders and Andy Nicholson when the bond between them was around the love of music and especially rap music. The three loved to listen to: "Dr. Dre", "Wu-Tang Clan", "Outkast" and "Roots Manuva".
= In 2001, with the breakthrough of the band "The Strokes", the musical taste of the three changed and they fell in love with the band and the style.
= In 2002, after watching live shows by various rock bands in the neighborhood, they decided that they too wanted to form a band and formed "Arctic Monkeys".
(Photo: Press Here Publicity)
= Alex, whose playing music was no stranger to him in light of his childhood, suggested that Andy learn to play bass, Matt learns to play drums, he himself would play guitar, and that they would add their neighbor Jamie Cook as another guitar player.
= At first Alex only played guitar but in light of the fact that no one else wanted to be a singer, he also took on this role.
= It was clear to the other three friends that Alex was the one to lead the creation and writing, as he had a fondness for lyrics.
= They started working on cover versions and original songs and their first performance took place on June 13, 2003.
= In 2004 they recorded a number of demo songs and began distributing them during a tour in Central and Northern England as well as Scotland. Later, the songs were uploaded to the internet by fans and were called "Beneath the Boardwalk".
= In 2005 they released an EP called "Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys" and began another tour in England.
= In 2005 they recorded their first album: "Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not". The first single from the album, called "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" slashed the radio stations and charts and took first place in the UK singles chart.
= The album, released in January 2006, went straight to number one in the UK, breaking the all-time record for the fastest-selling debut album in UK music history and becoming a cultural phenomenon. Many critics praised Alex's lyrics and his singing style.
= The band's next three albums, "Favorite Worst Nightmare" (2007), "Humbug" (2009), and "Suck It and See" (2011) reached number one in the UK. Until the fourth album arrived in 2013. But wait, before it came out...
= Alex released a single solo album (EP) which was released as part of the soundtrack of the movie "Submarine" in 2011. Alex's friend asked him to record a soundtrack with cover versions for the film he is directing, but eventually, Alex wrote six new acoustic songs that became the soundtrack.
= In 2012 the band moved from England to Los Angeles following Alex, who had moved there a year earlier. They started working on their fourth album while simultaneously being the opening act for "The Black Keys" on a US tour.
= That same year they also got to perform at the opening ceremony of the London Olympics.
= In September 2013 the fifth album called "AM" was released. The album of course reached number one in the UK and also number six in the United States.
= Some will say that this album changed the band and especially Alex. Although he was known for his stage presence, he changed it significantly: he lowered his guitar to the waist area and flirted with fans, and especially ladies, while performing. In addition, the band went out for a massive promotion of the album which included interviews, collaborations, and appearances on various shows, which did not happen on previous albums. Apparently, this happened mainly thanks to a change in Alex's attitude.
(Photo: Darren Pepe)
= After a five-year hiatus, the band released their sixth and most anticipated album, "Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino", which of course conquered the top of the British charts again and reached number eight in the United States.
= After the release of the album and the tour, the band returned to relative silence until in 2022 they released their seventh album "The Car". The entire album was written by Alex and produced by James Ford. It includes 10 songs, of which "I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am" and "There'd Better Be a Mirrorball" are the first two singles released out of it.
= In addition to the Arctic band, Alex was part of the super ensemble "The Last Shadow Puppets", which created pop music accompanied by an orchestra. Alex wrote most of the lyrics on the band's albums.
= The band released two albums: "The Age of the Understatement" in 2008 and "Everything You've Come to Expect" in 2016 as well as three EPs.
= In addition, Alex has been involved in writing and producing with other artists, including Miles Kane, "Queens of the Stone Age", "Mini Mansions", Alexandra Savior, and more.
Listen to Arctic Monkeys' international breakthrough album on: Spotify, Apple Music