Faris Adam Derar Badwan (born 21 September 1986) is an English musician, best known as the lead vocalist of

the Horrors The Horrors are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea in 2005 by lead vocalist Faris Badwan, guitarist Joshua Hayward, keyboardist and synthesizer player Tom Furse, bassist Rhys Webb, and drummer and percussionist Joe Spurg ...

and as half of the duo Cat's Eyes.

Early life

Born in

Bexley Bexley is an area of south-eastern Greater London, England and part of the London Borough of Bexley. It is sometimes known as Bexley Village or Old Bexley to differentiate the area from the wider borough. It is located east-southeast of Ch ...

, Kent on 21 September 1986 to a Palestinian father and English mother, Badwan grew up in

Leamington Spa Royal Leamington Spa, commonly known as Leamington Spa or simply LeamingtonEven more colloquially, also referred to as Lem or Leam (). (), is a spa town and civil parish in Warwickshire, England. Originally a small village called Leamington Pri ...

and

Hillmorton Hillmorton is a suburb of Rugby, Warwickshire, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, around south-east of Rugby town centre, forming much of the eastern half of the town. It is also a Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, ward of the B ...

, Rugby along with three brothers. Badwan attended the public school Arnold Lodge School in Leamington Spa before obtaining a scholarship in 1999 to the exclusive

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Rugby School Rugby School is a Public school (United Kingdom), private boarding school for pupils aged 13–18, located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire in England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independ ...

, where he met future Horrors bassist and

synthesiser A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

player Tom Cowan, also known as Tom Furse. When Badwan was 12 he became friends with future music producer

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

. Continuing his education, Badwan moved to

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 ...

to study

illustration An illustration is a decoration, interpretation, or visual explanation of a text, concept, or process, designed for integration in print and digitally published media, such as posters, flyers, magazines, books, teaching materials, animations, vi ...

Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...

in 2004, eventually deferring from his studies to concentrate on his musical career with the band.Paphides, Pete (2006)
The rocking Horrors show
, ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'', 18 August 2006, retrieved 2010-11-06

Musical career

Badwan is best known as vocalist for the Horrors, an

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 formed in

Southend-on-Sea Southend-on-Sea (), commonly referred to as Southend (), is a coastal city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in south-eastern Essex, England. It lies on the nor ...

in 2005. Their debut album, ''

Strange House ''Strange House'' is the debut studio album by English rock band the Horrors, released on 5 March 2007 by Loog Records. Content The band announced the title via a Myspace bulletin on 11 January 2007. The album subtitle, "Psychotic Sounds fo ...

'', was released in 2007. Badwan became notorious for his onstage activities, which have featured violence, the use of black paint to mark audience members, scaling anything available and using items found in the stage area to antagonise the audience.Horrors Singer Attacked During CMJ Performance
, ''

SPIN Spin or spinning most often refers to: * Spin (physics) or particle spin, a fundamental property of elementary particles * Spin quantum number, a number which defines the value of a particle's spin * Spinning (textiles), the creation of yarn or thr ...

'', 1 November 2006, retrieved 2010-11-06 Badwan and his band were thrown out of venue Great Scott in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

in 2007 after he accidentally smashed a ceramic bust of

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was an American singer and actor. Referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one of the most significant cultural figures of the ...

on stage.The Horrors Thrown Out Of Concert Venue
, contactmusic.com, 16 March 2007, retrieved 2010-11-06 Prior to forming the Horrors, Faris took part in pseudo-punk band the Rotters, named after the novel '' The Rotters' Club'' by

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

. Faris released a one-off single under the pseudonym of Lumina, teaming up with ex-

Ipso Facto is a Latin phrase, directly translated as "by the fact itself", which means that a specific phenomenon is a ''direct'' consequence, a resultant ''effect'', of the action in question, instead of being brought about by a previous action. (Contras ...

member Cherish Kaya to record a cover of the

Black Lips Black Lips is an American garage rock band from Atlanta, Georgia, formed in 1999. History The band formed in Dunwoody, Georgia, after guitarist Cole Alexander and bassist Jared Swilley left the Renegades, and guitarist Ben Eberbaugh left the ...

song "I'll Be With You".The Horrors' Faris Badwan to release Black Lips cover
, ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'', 7 August 2009, retrieved 2010-11-06 This recording appeared as a

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph record, vinyl records and Compact cassette, cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a Single (music), single usually ...

on the Black Lips single "Drugs". Faris appeared on the TV show ''

Soccer AM ''Soccer AM'' was a British football-based comedy talk show, produced by Sky Sports. It aired from 20 August 1994 to 27 May 2023 on Sky Showcase, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Football. From 2010, the programme was put on a short b ...

'', scoring in the spot kick challenge. He talked about his love of football, confirming that he is a

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

supporter. In early 2015, Faris and his brother Tarik Badwan (lead singer of

Loom A loom is a device used to weaving, weave cloth and tapestry. The basic purpose of any loom is to hold the Warp (weaving), warp threads under tension (mechanics), tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of ...

), announced that they would be launching RAFT Records, in partnership with Vinyl Factory. They collaborated with designer Marc Donaldson to create the label's aesthetic. The first release was a four-track double 7-inch EP featuring Skinny Girl Diet, Niqab, Puffer and Jet Black. On September 21, 2020, American

hyperpop Hyperpop (sometimes called bubblegum bass) is a loosely defined electronic music movement and microgenre that predominantly originated during the early 2010s in the United Kingdom. It is characterised by an exaggerated or maximalist take on p ...

artist

Dorian Electra Dorian Electra Fridkin Gomberg (born June 25, 1992) is an American singer and songwriter. Electra is known for their non-conforming fashion, queer aesthetics, and experimental pop sound. Their debut studio album, ''Flamboyant'', was released in ...

announced their project, '' My Agenda'', with Badwan appearing as a featured artist on the track “Iron Fist”. The album was released on October 16, 2020.

Cat's Eyes

In 2011, Faris collaborated with Canadian opera singer Rachel Zeffira under the moniker Cat's Eyes, releasing the ''Broken Glass'' EP and a self-titled full-length album. In February 2015, Cat's Eyes released the soundtrack for Peter Strickland's film '' The Duke of Burgundy''.

Production

In 2016 Badwan produced "Stained", the debut single by acclaimed London-based band, HMLTD. In February 2017,

Hercules & Love Affair Hercules and Love Affair is a dance music project created by American DJ, singer, composer, musician and producer Andy Butler in 2004. Consisting of a rotating cast of performers and musicians, the band work within the genres of house music, di ...

released the single "Controller", featuring Badwan on vocals. In 2018, the Norwich-based duo

Let's Eat Grandma Let's Eat Grandma are a British experimental pop duo formed in 2013 by Rosa Walton and Jenny Hollingworth. They released their debut studio album '' I, Gemini'' in 2016 through Transgressive Records. Their second studio album, '' I'm All Ears'' ...

released their second album, " I'm All Ears", featuring two songs co-written and produced by Badwan and

, "Hot Pink" and "It's Not Just Me". The LP went on to win Album of the Year at the Q Awards, where Badwan presented the band with their award.

Artwork

Badwan's illustrations have also earned admiration; his artwork has been featured on releases by the Horrors, the Charlatans and Hatcham Social,The Horrors' Faris Badwan for Milan art show
, ''

'', 16 October 2010, retrieved 2010-11-06 and in ''

Vice A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...

'' magazine. His "Drawing a Straight Number Nine" exhibition in London featured a drawing series of 100 new works by the frontman.The Horrors' Faris Badwan to exhibit his art in London
, ''

'', 7 July 2010, retrieved 2010-11-06 Due to its popularity, it was then taken to

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy. In September 2021, Badwan's new exhibition, "Call and Response", opened at the Masterpiece Gallery in Dubai. A collection of paintings inspired by phone conversations during the pandemic, Badwan "utilised each call to document and decipher the unintentional interpretations of conversation". In an interview with Emirati publication The National, Badwan explained, “I’ve always been interested in the looseness and natural feeling of the drawings you make when you’re on the phone – when your mind is completely clear and you are having a conversation, meanwhile your hand is engaged in some parallel dialogue.”

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Badwan, Faris 1986 births Living people English male singers English rock guitarists English rock singers English rock keyboardists English people of Palestinian descent Musicians from the London Borough of Bexley People from Bexley Musicians from Warwickshire People educated at Rugby School Alumni of Central Saint Martins English male guitarists 21st-century English singers 21st-century English guitarists 21st-century English male singers Singers from the London Borough of Bexley