Joseph Talbot (born 23 August 1984) is a Welsh singer. He has been the vocalist for

British rock British rock describes a wide variety of forms of music made in the United Kingdom. Since around 1964, with the "British Invasion" of the United States spearheaded by the Beatles, British rock music has had a considerable impact on the develop ...

band

Idles Idles are an English post-punk band formed in Bristol in 2009. The band consists of Adam Devonshire (bass), Joe Talbot (singer), Joe Talbot (vocals), Mark Bowen (guitar), Lee Kiernan (guitar), and Jon Beavis (drums). After spending eight yea ...

since their inception in 2009.

Early life

Talbot was born in Newport on 23 August 1984. He moved to England as a child, where he grew up in

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

. He met Idles bassist Adam Devonshire at

sixth form college A sixth form college (pre-university college in Malaysia) is an educational institution, where students aged 16 to 19 study typically for advanced post-school level qualifications such as GCE Advanced Level, A Levels, Business and Technology Edu ...

in Exeter before the two moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

, where they studied at the St Matthias Campus of the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

and decided to start a band.Hamilton, Joe (2017)
Brute Force: The Contrary World Of IDLES
, '' Clash'', 15 March 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017 Following university, they went on to start the now-defunct Bat-Cave night at their local pub in

Music career

Idles - Haldern Pop Festival 2017 - Alexander Kellner - 2

Talbot has released five studio albums and many EPs and singles with Idles. His music has been described as

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

, and

post-punk Post-punk (originally called new musick) is a broad genre of music that emerged in late 1977 in the wake of punk rock. Post-punk musicians departed from punk's fundamental elements and raw simplicity, instead adopting a broader, more experiment ...

, especially due to its passionate nature and political lyrics, which have criticized right-wing news networks such as

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

and ''

The Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot Plasma (physics), plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as ...

,'' (during the ''Joy'' tour, Talbot was known to shout ''"Don't read The Sun, it'll give you cancer"'' at shows before the closing song, Rottweiler) and outlined social issues such as depression,

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the Social privilege, societal privilege that benefits white people over Person of color, non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or ...

, and

toxic masculinity The concept of toxic masculinity is used in academic and media discussions to refer to those aspects of hegemonic masculinity that are socially destructive, such as misogyny, homophobia, and violent domination. These traits are considered "toxi ...

. However, Talbot has rejected all of these genre labels. In 2017, he was quoted saying: "We're not a post-punk band. I guess we have that

motorik Motorik is the 4/4 beat often used by, and heavily associated with, krautrock bands. Coined by music journalists, the term is German for "motor skill". The motorik beat was pioneered by Jaki Liebezeit, drummer with German experimental rock b ...

, engine-like drive in the rhythm section that some post-punk bands have but we have plenty of songs that aren't like that at all."Murray, Eoin (2017)
Stendhal Syndrome: Idles Interviewed
,

The Quietus ''The Quietus'' is a British online music and pop culture magazine founded by John Doran and Luke Turner. The site is an editorially independent publication led by Doran with a group of freelance journalists and critics. Content ''The Quietu ...

, 29 June 2017. Retrieved 8 July 2017 At a 2018 concert in

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

, he said: "for the last time, we're not a fucking punk band".

Controversies

On 28 June 2024, while performing a set at

Glastonbury Festival The Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts (commonly referred to as simply Glastonbury Festival, known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts held near Pilton, Somerset, England, in most su ...

, Talbot encouraged the crowd to chant "Fuck the King", which he called "the new British national anthem", leading to viewers calling for a lifetime ban for his band. He also described

Nigel Farage Nigel Paul Farage ( ; born 3 April 1964) is a British politician and broadcaster who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Clacton (UK Parliament constituency), Clacton and Leader of Reform UK since 20 ...

as a "fascist".

Collaborations

Talbot appears on the track ''Wish'' on

Anna Calvi Anna Margaret Michelle Calvi (born 24 September 1980) is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. Her accolades include three Mercury Prize nominations, one Brit Awards, Brit Award nomination, and a European Border Breakers Award. She has b ...

's fourth full-length album ''Hunted''. In 2020, he collaborated with

Jehnny Beth Jehnny Beth (born Camille Berthomier, 24 December 1984) is a French musician and actress originally from Poitiers and based in London, England since 2006. She came to notability within Europe as one half of the indie rock duo John & Jehn, and ...

for her debut solo album, '' To Love Is to Live,'' co-writing and recording vocals on the track "How Could You". Talbot also sang guest vocals for fellow Bristolians

Turbowolf Turbowolf are an English hard rock band founded in Bristol in 2008, whose members include Chris Georgiadis (vocals and synthesisers), Andy Ghosh (guitar), Lianna Lee Davies (bass guitar) and Blake Davies (drums). Their first album, ''Turbowolf' ...

on the track ''Capital X'' from their 2018 album ''The Free Life''. Talbot also appears on the

Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes is an English punk rock band formed in 2015 by frontman Frank Carter (musician), Frank Carter with guitarist Dean Richardson. Famed for their raucous live shows, the band released their debut album ''Blossom (F ...

Single ''My Town'' that was released 27 April 2021. Additionally, he is the subject of the song ''Blood Brother'', by Bristol-based band Heavy Lungs, whose vocalist Danny Nedelko is the namesake and subject of the fourth track on Idles' second record ''Joy as an Act of Resistance''.

Influences

He cites

LCD Soundsystem LCD Soundsystem is an American Dance-punk#Contemporary dance-punk, dance-punk revival band from Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2002 by James Murphy (electronic musician), James Murphy, of DFA Records. The band comprises Murphy (vocals ...

The Strokes The Strokes are an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1998. The band is composed of lead singer and primary songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond, Jr., Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikola ...

The Streets The Streets is an English musical project led by vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Mike Skinner (musician), Mike Skinner. The project was founded in the early 90s, while Skinner was still a teenager; however, no music would formally eventuat ...

Thom Yorke Thomas Edward Yorke (born 7 October 1968) is an English musician who is the vocalist and main songwriter of the rock band Radiohead. He plays guitar, bass, keyboards and other instruments, and is noted for his falsetto. ''Rolling Stone'' desc ...

Battles A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force c ...

The Walkmen The Walkmen is an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 2000. The band consists of Hamilton Leithauser (vocals), Paul Maroon (guitar, keyboards), Walter Martin (musician), Walter Martin (bass, organ), Peter Matthew Bauer (org ...

Joy Division Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...

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 The Fall as influences.

Personal life

When Talbot was 16, his mother had a stroke and was paralysed; after the death of his step-father, he became his mother's primary caretaker until her death in 2015. She became the primary subject of the Idles album ''

Brutalism Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the b ...

''. Talbot and his ex wife have had two daughters; their first daughter, Agatha, was

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

in 2017. Talbot is

bisexual Bisexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior toward both males and females. It may also be defined as the attraction to more than one gender, to people of both the same and different gender, or the attraction t ...

. Talbot has stated he is not religious but "I appreciate faith, I've got a lot of time for it." During an interview with

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

regarding the band's 2020 album

Ultra Mono ''Ultra Mono'' is the third studio album by British rock band Idles, released on 25 September 2020 by Partisan Records. Following on from their previous album '' Joy as an Act of Resistance'', the album further explores themes established in th ...

, Talbot stated "I believe in

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

. Go fuck yourselves. I want to sleep at night knowing that my platform is the voice of reason and an egalitarian want for something beautiful - not the murder of Black people, homophobia at the workplace, racist front lines."

Discography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Talbot, Joe 1984 births Living people People educated at Exeter College, Devon Alumni of the University of the West of England, Bristol Bisexual male singers Bisexual songwriters Idles members Singers from Bristol Welsh bisexual men Welsh LGBTQ singers Welsh LGBTQ songwriters Welsh male songwriters Welsh socialists 21st-century Welsh LGBTQ people 21st-century Welsh male singers 21st-century Welsh songwriters