Gotye

Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), known professionally as Gotye, is an Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognate of his Dutch given name "Wouter". Gotye has released three studio albums independently and one album featuring remixes of tracks from his first two albums. He is a founding member of the Melbourne indie-pop trio The Basics, who have independently released four studio albums and numerous other titles since 2002. His voice has been compared to those of Peter Gabriel and Sting. Gotye achieved breakout success with his 2011 single "Somebody That I Used to Know", reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and becoming the best-selling song of 2012. This made him the fifth Australian-based artist to top the chart and the second born in Belgium (after The Singing Nun in 1963). He has won five ARIA Awards and received a nomination for an MTV EMA for Best Asia and Pacific Act. On 10 February 2013, he won three Grammy Awards at the 55th Annual Grammy Awards Show: Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Somebody That I Used to Know" and Best Alternative Music Album for Making Mirrors. Gotye has said he sometimes feels "less of a musician, more of a tinkerer." Early life Born in 1980, in Bruges, Belgium, De Backer immigrated to Australia with his family two years later. They first resided in Sydney before settling in Montmorency, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria. His mother nicknamed him "Gotye", based on "Gauthier", the French equivalent of his Dutch name. His parents chose to use the English equivalent of his name, Walter, when enrolling him in school. As a youth, De Backer displayed a passion for music, learning various instruments, most notably piano and drums. In 2012, De Backer recalled that as a teenager he used to listen "obsessively" to Depeche Mode's album Songs of Faith and Devotion, stating, "I could single-handedly credit that record with wanting me to make records." In his teens, De Backer formed the band Downstares with three of his high school friends, including Lucas Taranto (who still plays in his Gotye live shows). After high school, the members of Downstares went their separate ways, leaving De Backer with no musical outlet.