Liam Fray
| Liam Fray | |
|---|---|
Liam Fray with The Courteeners performing at the OXEGEN '08 festival
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Liam Fray |
| Born |
15 May 1985 Middleton, Greater Manchester, England |
| Genres |
Indie rock Acoustic rock Post-Britpop Post-punk revival Synthpop |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, singer-songwriter, guitarist |
| Instruments | Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar |
| Years active | 2005–present |
| Labels |
Polydor Records PIAS Cooperative |
| Associated acts | The Courteeners |
| Notable instruments | |
|
Gretsch White Falcon Gibson Hummingbird Epiphone Riviera Fender Jaguar |
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Liam James Fray (born 15 May 1985) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and lyricist, best known as the founder and frontman of Manchester-based indie rock band The Courteeners, which was formed in 2006.
Born in Middleton, Greater Manchester into a family of teachers, Fray went to school with the three other members of The Courteeners whom he has known since he was 10. He has an older sister, Laura.
Other Manchester bands such as The Smiths and Oasis inspired Fray to write and form the band. "Noel's the reason why I picked up the guitar when I was 11-years-old – trying to learn 'Wonderwall'," admitted Fray.
First he studied economics, then creative writing at the University of Salford. He ended up leaving in his second year, when the band started to take off. In 2015, he received an Honorary Doctorate of Arts at a graduation ceremony for the University.
He wrote future The Courteeners' songs 'Not Nineteen Forever' and 'Cavorting' during his time at university while working in Manchester's Fred Perry clothes shop and frequently performed at open mic nights as an acoustic singer-songwriter. "I've been gigging since 2005 – I did a year on my own – and in the summer of '06 we [members of The Courteeners] got together and started gigging properly around Christmas."
All the music and lyrics for The Courteeners' songs are written by Fray; he claims they are wholly autobiographical. Ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr once called Fray "an underrated lyricist".[citation needed]
With The Courteeners, he released five studio albums. All of them went Top 10 in the UK Albums Chart; St. Jude and Falcon reached Gold status. The band have achieved their highest chart position so far with their 4th album Concrete Love (2014) entering at number 3. On 27 May 2017, the band played their biggest headline gig to 50,000 people at Manchester's Emirates Old Trafford.
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