Liam James Fray (born 15 May 1985) is an English musician, singer, songwriter and lyricist, best known as the founder and frontman of

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

-based

indie rock Indie rock is a subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the music they produ ...

band

Courteeners Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton in 2006 by Liam Fray (lead guitar/vocals), Michael Campbell (drums/backing vocals), Daniel "Conan" Moores (rhythm guitar) and Mark Cuppello (bass); the latter was replaced by the band's produ ...

, which was formed in 2006. Fray hails from

Middleton, Greater Manchester Middleton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Greater Manchester, England, on the River Irk southwest of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester city centre. Middleton had a population of 42,972 at the 2011 Census. It lies on the ...

and he references his hometown in multiple songs.

Background

Liam James Fray was born on 15 May 1985 in

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 The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to eme ...

and

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

inspired Fray to write and form the band. " Noel allaghers 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 , caption = Coat of ArmsUniversity of Salford , mottoeng = "Let us seek higher things" , established = 1850 - Pendleton Mechanics Institute 1896 – Royal Technical Institute, Salford 1967 – gained ...

. 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.

Career

Fray wrote future Courteeners' songs " Not Nineteen Forever" and " Cavorting" during his time at university while working in Manchester's

Fred Perry Frederick John Perry (18 May 1909 – 2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slams single titles, as well ...

clothes shop and frequently performed at

open mic An open mic or open mike (shortened from "open microphone") is a live show at a venue such as a coffeehouse, nightclub, comedy club, strip club, or pub, usually taking place at night, in which audience members may perform on stage whether t ...

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 embers of the Courteenersgot together and started gigging properly around

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

." All the music and lyrics for Courteeners' songs are written by Fray; he claims they are wholly

autobiographical An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

. Ex-

guitarist

Johnny Marr Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963) is an English musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerou ...

once called Fray "an underrated lyricist". With Courteeners, he has released six

studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

. All of them went Top 10 in the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

; ''

St. Jude Jude ( grc-gre, Ἰούδας Ἰακώβου translit. Ioúdas Iakóbou) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is generally identified as Thaddeus ( grc-gre, Θαδδαῖος; cop, ⲑⲁⲇⲇⲉⲟⲥ; ...

'' (2008) and ''

Falcon Falcons () are birds of prey in the genus ''Falco'', which includes about 40 species. Falcons are widely distributed on all continents of the world except Antarctica, though closely related raptors did occur there in the Eocene. Adult falcons ...

'' (2010) achieved Gold status. The band have achieved their highest chart position so far with their sixth studio album '' More. Again. Forever.'' (2020) peaking at No. 2. On 27 May 2017, the band played their biggest headline gig to 50,000 people at Manchester's Emirates Old Trafford. Aside from the band, Fray also performs acoustic solo shows, playing band's songs. Alone in 2013 he completed two sold-out UK tours. He performed a special solo set at Neighbourhood Festival, the Albert Hall, Manchester on 8 October 2016. Fray then went on to complete a sold out acoustic tour in November/December 2017 alongside Adam Payne, including three sets at the Manchester Albert Hall in the space of 2 days. Fray also painted the cover artwork for Courteeners' debut album ''St. Jude'' (2008), which features

Audrey Hepburn Audrey Hepburn (born Audrey Kathleen Ruston; 4 May 1929 – 20 January 1993) was a British actress and humanitarian. Recognised as both a film and fashion icon, she was ranked by the American Film Institute as the third-greatest female screen ...

. He has appeared twice on the cover of '' NME'' magazine, one as an individual and the other with Courteeners. His favourite artists are

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

Stephen Fretwell Stephen Fretwell (born 10 November 1981) is an English singer-songwriter. Biography Fretwell attended St. Augustine Webster Primary School in Scunthorpe and St. Bede's Catholic School in Ashby before furthering his study at John Leggott Colle ...

Elbow The elbow is the region between the arm and the forearm that surrounds the elbow joint. The elbow includes prominent landmarks such as the olecranon, the cubital fossa (also called the chelidon, or the elbow pit), and the lateral and the me ...

, the National, and the

Yeah Yeah Yeahs The Yeah Yeah Yeahs are an American indie rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The group is composed of vocalist and pianist Karen O (born Karen Lee Orzolek), guitarist and keyboardist Nick Zinner, and drummer Brian Chase. They are compl ...

. Fray uses a cherry

Epiphone Epiphone is an American musical instrument brand that traces its roots to a musical instrument manufacturing business founded in 1873 by Anastasios Stathopoulos in Smyrna, Ottoman Empire, and moved to New York City in 1908. After taking over his f ...

Riviera electric guitar with a frequensator tailpiece (his main live guitar in the ''St. Jude'' (2008) era), G6136DC

Gretsch White Falcon The Gretsch White Falcon is an electric hollow-body guitar introduced in 1954 by Gretsch. This guitar was created as a "showpiece" to exhibit the craft of Gretsch's luthiers, sales, and demonstration representative, Jimmie Webster, who created i ...

Double Cutaway electric guitar (appeared in ''

'' (2010) era, main in ''

Anna Anna may refer to: People Surname and given name * Anna (name) Mononym * Anna the Prophetess, in the Gospel of Luke * Anna (wife of Artabasdos) (fl. 715–773) * Anna (daughter of Boris I) (9th–10th century) * Anna (Anisia) (fl. 1218 to 1221) ...

'' (2013), ''

Concrete Love ''Concrete Love'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Courteeners, released on 18 August 2014 via Cooperative Music label.

'' (2014) eras), and

Gibson Hummingbird The Gibson Hummingbird is an acoustic guitar model/series produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Unlike the other flat-top Gibson acoustics, the Hummingbird was Gibson's first square-shoulder dreadnought, similar to the dreadnoughts produce ...

acoustic guitar, amongst others.

Discography

Studio albums * ''

'' (2008) * ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2013) * ''

Concrete Love ''Concrete Love'' is the fourth studio album by British rock band Courteeners, released on 18 August 2014 via Cooperative Music label.

'' (2014) * ''

Mapping the Rendezvous ''Mapping the Rendezvous'' is the fifth studio album by British rock band Courteeners, released on 28 October 2016. The album was announced in August while "The 17th" was made available on streaming platforms. In November the band embarked on a U ...

'' (2016) * '' More. Again. Forever.'' (2020)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fray, Liam 1985 births Living people 21st-century English singers English male guitarists English male singer-songwriters British indie rock musicians English rock guitarists English rock singers Lead guitarists People from Middleton, Greater Manchester Musicians from Greater Manchester 21st-century British guitarists 21st-century British male singers