Daniel Edward Black (born 16 November 1975) is an English singer-songwriter and vocalist. He was a member of

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band the Servant, before their split in 2007. He is also a vocalist for the Italian British group

Planet Funk Planet Funk is an Italian electronic music, electronic band. The group is composed of Marco Baroni, Alex Neri, Dan Black, and formerly Sergio Della Monica and Domenico "Gigi" Canu. In addition a number of guest vocalists joined the group, includ ...

. After releasing his breakthrough song "HYPNTZ", he signed to The:Hours, releasing his first two singles – "Alone" and "Yours" – in 2008. The following year, he released his most commercially successful single to date, "

Symphonies A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

Career

Early career

Black was originally a guitarist in Minty, the former band of the late

Leigh Bowery Leigh Bowery (26 March 1961 – 31 December 1994) was an Australian performance artist, club promoter, and fashion designer. Bowery's performances featured striking costumes and make-up and were conceptual, flamboyant, outlandish, and sometime ...

. He was also a founding member of

Massive Ego Massive Ego is a British darkwave musical group formed in 1996 by singer Marc Massive (also the owner of the Public Disordar label) and Andy J Thirwall. The band has changed its sound and image since its formation. The original releases being ...

, a late addition to the

Romo Romantic Modernism, more commonly known as Romo, was a musical and nightclubbing movement, of glam/style pop lineage, in the UK circa 1995–1997, centred on the twin homes of Camden-based clubnight Club Skinny and its West End clone Arcad ...

scene, of which Minty had previously been cited as a core band by music magazine ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

''. Black was later the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of

band the Servant. He was a member of the band from their conception in 1998 to their split in 2007.

2008–2012

In 2008, Black released a solo single, "HYPNTZ". The song's lyrics were taken from rapper

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in the New York rap scene and gangsta rap tradi ...

's " Hypnotize", while its instrumental sampled a cover of "Starman" by the

City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra (Czech: ''Filharmonici města Prahy'') is a classical orchestra, predominantly composed of Czech classical, jazz and guest musicians. The history of the orchestra goes back to the Film Symphony Orchest ...

and

Apple Inc Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Computer ...

's "Vintage Funk Kit 03". used. The single received positive reviews, with one critic commenting: "It achieves its magic formula in a manner that is both arbitrary and obvious, which is a part of its brilliance. The Umbrella break + Starman soundtrack + a beautiful melodic rendering of a gangsta rap staple: we know exactly what has been done here, and this is why it sounds so good". However, before a planned music video could be shot, The Notorious B.I.G.'s estate informed Black's team of their objection to the use of the "Hypnotize" lyrics. The "HYPNTZ" single was consequently taken out of circulation and the video scrapped. Black later signed a deal with The:Hours, releasing two singles, "Alone" and "Yours". He gained further popularity in 2009 when his track "U + Me =" was chosen as the UK iTunes Store's "Free Single of the Week". It was later used as the signature tune for

BBC Switch BBC Switch was the brand for BBC content aimed at UK teenagers. The brand was launched on Saturday 20 October 2007 on BBC Two and ceased broadcasting on 18 December 2010. It included a block of television programmes on BBC Two, an online portal ...

's ''The Cut''. Signing a deal with A&M, his debut album '' UN'' was released on 13 July 2009. The album was preceded by a single, "

", which was released after a successful performance at

Glastonbury Glastonbury ( , ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonbury is less than across the River ...

2009 in the

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), better known as John Peel, was an English radio presenter and journalist. He was the longest-serving of the original disc jockeys on BBC Radio 1, broadcasting regularly from ...

Tent. Black also performed on the Freeze:Freesports on 4 main stage at

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Battersea Power Station Battersea Power Station is a decommissioned coal-fired power station located on the south bank of the River Thames in Nine Elms, Battersea in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It was built by the London Power Company (LPC) to the design of ...

in November that year. Other acts performing at the same event were

Friendly Fires Friendly Fires are an English indie rock band from St Albans, Hertfordshire, England. They are currently signed to Polydor Records. Their self-titled debut album was released on 1 September 2008, and was announced as one of the shortlisted twe ...

and

Chase & Status Chase & Status are an English electronic music duo composed of Saul Milton (Chase) and Will Kennard (Status). In addition, Andy Gangadeen is the drummer when the band performs live. MC Rage formerly performed as MC with the group, but left in ...

. "

" was released as the U.S. iTunes "Single of the Week" for the week of 28 December 2009, and the video was released on iTunes for free for the week of 15 March 2010. ''UN'' was released in the United States on 16 February 2010, containing three

bonus tracks An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track or cassette), or digital. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century a ...

, including a remix of "Symphonies" with American rapper

Kid Cudi Scott Ramon Seguro Mescudi (born January 30, 1984), also known by his stage name Kid Cudi ( ; formerly stylized as KiD CuDi), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, actor, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Clevelan ...

. "Symphonies" was serviced to American alternative formatted radio stations in its original version, peaking at #34 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart. The "Symphonies" video was nominated for Best Special Effects in a Video and Breakthrough Video at the

2010 MTV Video Music Awards The 2010 MTV Video Music Awards took place on September 12, 2010 at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. Chelsea Handler hosted the event, the first woman in sixteen years – since the 1994 MTV ...

, but lost in both categories. Symphonies was also put onto the popular video game

NBA 2K11 ''NBA 2K11'' is a 2010 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K. It was released in October 2010 for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. A ...

" also won the coveted prize "The Christmas Song" in 2010. Black toured the U.S. and U.K in February 2010, including a showcase performance in March at SXSW 2010 in

Austin, Texas Austin ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Texas. It is the county seat and most populous city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and W ...

. He also performed at Camp nou in 2011, and at the Austin City Limits Music Festival in October 2010, and was captured "

photobombing Photobombing is the act of purposely putting oneself into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects. Photobombing has received significant coverage since 2009. In discussing a "stingray p ...

" a number of attendees. In 2011, he was featured on

Kaskade Ryan Gary Raddon (born February 25, 1971), better known by his stage name Kaskade, is an American DJ, music producer and remixer. ''DJ Times'' voted Kaskade as "America's Best DJ" in 2011 and 2013. ''DJ Magazine, DJ Mag'' named Kaskade fifty-fi ...

's album, ''Fire and Ice'' on the track "Ice". On 31 July 2012, Black released "Raw", a single promoting the new

Absolut Absolut Vodka is a brand of vodka, produced near Åhus, in southern Sweden. Absolut is a part of the French group Pernod Ricard. Pernod Ricard bought Absolut for €5.63 billion in 2008 (equivalent to € in ) from the Swedish state. Absolut ...

flavor of

vodka Vodka ( ; is a clear distilled beverage, distilled alcoholic beverage. Its varieties originated in Poland and Russia. Vodka is composed mainly of water and ethanol but sometimes with traces of impurities and flavourings. Traditionally, it is ...

, Caipiroska. In 2012, Black's production was featured on American record label

GOOD Music GOOD Music (often stylized as G.O.O.D. Music; a backronym for Getting Out Our Dreams) is an American independent record label founded by rapper Kanye West in 2004. The label entered an exclusive long-term worldwide music distribution, distributi ...

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

'' Cruel Summer'', on the song "Creepers", performed by Kid Cudi.

2013–present

Black's second studio album was tentatively set for release in 2013 with the original lead single "Hearts" dropping in mid-2013. That same year, Black stated the working title is ''Do Not Revenge''. In February 2017, Dan Black began teasing the release of the album. The album was released on 7 July 2017.

Discography

Albums

Studio albums

* '' UN'' (2009) * ''Do Not Revenge'' (2017)

EPs

* ''Dan Black'' (''UN'' Album Sampler) (2008) (promotional release) * ''Dan Black'' (2009) (promotional release) * '' iTunes Live: London Festival '09'' (2009)

Mixtapes

* ''Weird Science'' (2010)

Singles

* "Alone" (2008) * "Yours" (2008) * "HYPNTZ" (2008) (limited release) * "

" (2009) * "U + Me =" (2009) * "Symphonies" (Remix, featuring

) (2010) #34 ''Billboard'' Alternative Songs * "Ghost" (with Kidz in Space) (2010) * "Sunlight" (with Bag Raiders) (2010) * "Raw" (2012) (promotional release) * "Hearts" (featuring

Kelis Kelis Rogers (; born August 21, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and chef. She attended Manhattan, New York's Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, where she played saxophone and was selected for the Girls Ch ...

) (2013) * "Toy Spark Gun" (with SALM (SomethingALaMode)) (2013) * "Farewell" (featuring

) (2017) * "Headphones" (2017) * "Wash Away" (2017) * "I'm Lost" (2025) * "I Run Right Back To You" (2025)

Other appearances

* "ICE" (

with

Dada Life Dada Life are a Swedish DJ duo formed in 2006, which consists of Olle Cornéer and Stefan Engblom. They have released three albums, a number of singles and remixes and one compilation. The duo had early chart success in Belgium and the Netherl ...

and Dan Black) Fire & Ice''">Fire_&_Ice_(Kaskade_album).html" ;"title="'Fire & Ice (Kaskade album)">Fire & Ice''/small> (2011)

Writing and production credits

The following songs and albums were written and/or produced by Black for other artists. * "Creepers" (

featuring Kid Cudi) ['' Cruel Summer''] (2012) [writer, producer] * "''Chambre 12''", the first album of the French singer Louane Emera (2015) [producer] * "Gemme", a single by French singer Nolwenn Leroy (2017) [co-writer]"Nolwenn Leroy - Gemme (chanson)"
(in French). ''lescharts.com''. Retrieved 20 May 2017.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Dan 1975 births Living people Romo English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English electronic musicians Alternative dance musicians Wonky pop musicians Singers from London A&M Records artists Polydor Records artists Ultra Records artists 21st-century English male singers 21st-century British male singers