ANTONY HEGARTY

'Antony Hegarty' (born 1971) is an English singer/songwriter, best known for being the lead singer of the band Antony and the Johnsons.

Contents

Biography

References

Biography

Born in Sussex, UK in 1971, Antony's family moved to Amsterdam in 1977, before settling in California in 1981.
As a teenager he was enthused by the British synth pop of the time – in particular emotive singers such as Marc Almond, Alison Moyet and Boy George. In 1990 he moved to Manhattan, and founded the performance collective Blacklips with creative partner Johanna Constantine.
British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label; the debut album, ''Antony and the Johnsons'', was released in 1998. In 2001, Antony released a short follow-up EP, ''I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy'', which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and a Current 93 song.
Antony and the Johnsons' most recent album ''I Am a Bird Now'' won the UK's prestigious Mercury Prize in 2005 and was called Album of the Year by Mojo magazine.
He has notably worked with Lou Reed live as a second vocalist on ''Animal Serenade''. Antony also appears on the song "Lowlands Low" with Bryan Ferry on Hal Willner's '' album, the song "Old Whore's Diet" on Rufus Wainwright's album ''Want Two'' and on the song "Beautiful Boyz" on CocoRosie's album ''Noah's Ark''.
He was featured as a performing artist in the film '' about Leonard Cohen. Antony covers "If It Be Your Will".
Antony and the Johnsons collaborated with experimental film maker Charles Atlas and presented "TURNING" in Nov 2005 in Rome, London, Paris, Madrid, and Braga. The concert featured live video portraits of some of New York City's most enigmatic women. The Guardian called the piece "fragile, life affirming, and truly wonderful (five stars)" Le Monde in Paris hailed TURNING as "Concert- manifeste transsexuel".
Antony has recently collaborated with Icelandic musician Björk in recording sessions in Jamaica and Iceland. The songs, "The Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile", feature on her latest album ''Volta'' . He is also singing two songs on Rufus Wainwright's Album "Release the Stars" (2007). ^[1]
Antony also worked with renowned guitarist Bernard Butler (formerly of Suede) on some acoustic sessions for XFM. The recording of this session can be found here.
It was reported during an interview with Björk that she mistook Antony for a 'black woman' the first time she heard his voice on CD. ^[2]

References

1. "antonyandthejohnsons.com" Antony And The Johnsons News
2. Björk Mistakes Antony Hegarty For a "Black Woman"(2007). Retrieved on August 21, 2007'