Richard Hawley

Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. After that group broke up in 2000, he joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker, for a short time. As a solo musician, Hawley has released eight studio albums. He has been nominated for a Mercury prize twice and once for a Brit Award. He has collaborated with Lisa Marie Presley, Shakespears Sister, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow, Duane Eddy and Paul Weller. Early life Born in Sheffield, Hawley grew up with two sisters in a working-class area of the city. He was born with a cleft palate, which required numerous operations. Both his parents were musicians; his father Dave Hawley was a guitarist with a number of local bands (on his death, the Sheffield Star called him a "Sheffield music legend"), and his mother Lynne a singer. They divorced when he was 16 years old. He is a lifelong supporter of local football club Sheffield Wednesday. He noted that "I always wrote songs since childhood" and realising that "you could actually make something up of your own was quite a big one then". He attended Hucklow Middle School together with future Pulp bassist Steve Mackey, and passed his O-levels. Hawley briefly worked at the local HMV. While still at school, Hawley formed the Treebound Story and at the age of 19 recorded a Peel Session together with the band. Solo career