Jason Andrew Pierce (born 19 November 1965 in Rugby) is an English musician. Currently the frontman and sole permanent member of the band

Spiritualized Spiritualized (stylised as Spiritualized®) are an English rock band formed in 1990 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Jason Pierce (often known as J. Spaceman), formerly of Spacemen 3. After several line up-changes, in 1999, the band centred on Pie ...

, he previously co-fronted the

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

Spacemen 3 Spacemen 3 were an English rock band, formed in 1982 in Rugby, Warwickshire, by Peter Kember and Jason Pierce, known respectively under their pseudonyms Sonic Boom and J Spaceman. Their music is known for its brand of "trance-like neo-psyched ...

with Peter Kember from 1982 until 1991. He has worked under the name J. Spaceman.

Music

In between his work with Spiritualized and Spacemen 3, Pierce has been active with a network of

free jazz Free jazz, or free form in the early to mid-1970s, is a style of avant-garde jazz or an experimental approach to jazz improvisation that developed in the late 1950s and early 1960s, when musicians attempted to change or break down jazz conventi ...

players and improvisers, collaborating with artists, including

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Black Rebel Motorcycle Club (sometimes abbreviated to BRMC) is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. The group originally consisted of Peter Hayes (vocals, guitar, harmonica), Robert Levon Been (vocals, bass, guitar), and Ni ...

, Dr. John,

Primal Scream Primal Scream are a Scottish rock music, rock band originally formed in 1982 in Glasgow by Bobby Gillespie (vocals) and Jim Beattie (musician), Jim Beattie (guitar). The band's current lineup consists of Gillespie, Andrew Innes (guitar), Simon ...

Daniel Johnston Daniel Dale Johnston (January 22, 1961 – September 11, 2019) was an American singer, musician and artist regarded as a significant figure in Outsider music, outsider, Lo-fi music, lo-fi, and alternative rock, alternative music scenes. Most ...

and

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

. In 2006, Pierce released his first solo album, '' Guitar Loops'', a limited release on Coxon and Wales's Treader record label. Also in 2006, he composed the original score for an art installation called "Silent Sound" by British artists Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard. The live performance at St. George's Hall in Liverpool was recorded and released as a limited edition signed and numbered CD. A second performance of Silent Sound took place in 2010 as part of the AV Festival, at Middlesbrough Town Hall. A second limited edition, a signed and numbered CD, was released. Between 6 and 8 February 2007, Pierce performed in a series of benefit concerts for the HOPING Foundation for Palestinian children. He provided some of the soundtrack for

Harmony Korine Harmony Korine (born January 4, 1973) is an American filmmaker, actor, photographer, artist, and author. His methods feature an erratic, loose and transgressive aesthetic, exploring taboo themes and incorporating experimental techniques,Alicia Kn ...

's 2007 film '' Mister Lonely''. In July 2008, Pierce sat down for an interview with

NPR National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

before a concert at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. Both the interview and the concert can be heard on the NPR website. He released a collaboration with

Matthew Shipp Matthew Shipp (born December 7, 1960) is an American avant-garde jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader. Early life and education Shipp was raised in Wilmington, Delaware. His mother was a friend of trumpeter Clifford Brown. He began playing ...

entitled ''Spaceshipp'' on the Treader label in 2008. Pierce has worked on various solo projects, including the remixing of singles by LFO, Global Communication, and the 22-20's. His song "Lay It Down Slow" was used for the finale of the hit US drama series ''

Prison Break ''Prison Break'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime Drama (film and television), drama television series created by Paul Scheuring for Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox. The series revolves around two brothers: Lincoln Burrows (Dominic P ...

''. In 2015, he played guitar on the

Ariel Pink Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi aesthetic and home-recorded al ...

song "Dayzed Inn Daydreams".

Personal life

Jason lives with his partner and two children in the East End of London. In the 1990s, Pierce was in a relationship with Kate Radley, who was also a member of Spiritualized. In 1995, Radley married

Richard Ashcroft Richard Paul Ashcroft (born 11 September 1971) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He formed the alternative rock band the Verve in 1990 and served as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist throughout the band's lifetime. Ashcroft was ...

, the then lead singer of

the Verve The Verve were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Wigan in 1990 by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones (musician), Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury. Guitarist and keyboard player Sim ...

. Pierce was seriously ill with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

in 2005. Both his lungs had filled with liquid; the 5′ 11″ (180 cm) musician's weight plunged to seven stone (44.5 kg; 98 lbs), and his heart stopped beating twice. In an early 2012 interview, Pierce mentioned he had been under chemotherapy during the recordings of the 2012 Spiritualized album, '' Sweet Heart Sweet Light''. He does not specify the diagnosis for this treatment, but he jokes about it, saying that these are drugs he does not recommend to anybody.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pierce, Jason 1965 births Living people English male songwriters English male singers English rock guitarists English male guitarists Entertainers from Rugby, Warwickshire People educated at Lawrence Sheriff School Spiritualized members Space rock musicians Spacemen 3 members