Arcade Fire biography
Arcade Fire is a multi-award winning indie rock band formed in Canada in the early 2000s, which consists of husband and wife team Win Butler and Régine Chassagne, Win's brother Will, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, Jeremy Gara, Sarah Neufeld and touring member, violinist Marika Anthony Shaw. 2011 was an incredible year for the band, as they picked up two BRIT Awards for Best International Group and Best International Album for 'The Suburbs,' which also netted them Best Album at the NMEs and Album of the Year at the Grammy Awards.
Early days
After a few changes to the line-up in the early years following several rows within the group, Arcade Fire, as we know and love them today, began to build excitement from their minor shows and eventually caught the eye of record label Merge Records. They released their debut studio album Funeral in Canada in the autumn of 2004 and then unleashed their music on Britain a few months later. They named their first offering Funeral following the deaths of several family members of the group during the time it took them to record it.
The album was well received among music critics and it also enjoyed commercial success, going gold in Canada and in the UK after selling over 500,000 copies worldwide, with little TV or radio airplay. It was also Merge Records' first album to reach America's Billboard 200. It was nominated for Best International Album at the 2006 BRIT Awards, where Arcade Fire were also nominated for International Breakthrough Act and Best International Group. The record was also up for Best Alternative Music Album at the Grammy Awards in the same year.
Touring
In 2004, Arcade Fire embarked on a world tour, covering Canada, America and Europe and in 2005 performed at several high-profile music festivals including Reading and Leeds, as their star continued to rise. During 2005 and 2006, the band opened three shows for U2 on their Vertigo Tour and appeared on stage for the band's encore of a cover of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart.' By this time, the band had already appeared on several television shows, including Tops of the Pops and The Late Show With David Letterman.
Neon Bible
For the first few months of 2006, Arcade Fire spent their time converting a rundown church in Farnham, a small town in Quebec, into a recording studio where they produced most of the songs for their second album Neon Bible. It gave the band their first number one album, after it debuted at the top of the charts in Canada and Ireland. It went to number two in the UK and in the US and was also met with high praise from music critics. At the 2008 BRIT Awards, it was nominated for Best International Album, where they were once again in with a chance of winning Best International Group, and in the same year Neon Bible received a nod at the Grammys for Best Alternative Music Album.
Arcade Fire continued touring across North America and Europe to promote the record and embarked on their first visit to Australia and New Zealand in early 2008 for the Big Day Out festival and gave some of the proceeds of their tour to charity.
The Suburbs
It was a case of third time lucky for Arcade Fire after their third studio album The Suburbs landed them some major awards after it was released in the summer of 2010. It debuted at number one in several countries, including Canada, America and the UK, and won Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards where the band also picked up Best International Group. In the same year, Arcade Fire also collected the Best Album of the Year prize at the Grammys, where they celebrated by closing the show in spectacular fashion.
In April 2011, Arcade Fire embarked on yet another world tour, with shows planned across America and Europe, including a huge gig in London's Hyde Park in June.