Jonathan Joseph Higgs (born 23 February 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, filmmaker, director and multi-instrumentalist. He is best known as the frontman of the

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an ar ...

band

Everything Everything Everything Everything are an English art rock band from Manchester that formed in late 2007. Noted for their eclectic sound and complex, avant-garde-inspired lyrics, the band has released seven albums to date '' Man Alive (2010),'' '' Arc (2013 ...

, with whom he has released seven

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s and five EPs. He is noted for having an unusually wide vocal range, particularly his use of

falsetto Falsetto ( , ; Italian language, Italian diminutive of , "false") is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ...

Biography

Early life

Jonathan Joseph Higgs was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

on 23 February 1985, and was raised in

Northumberland Northumberland ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North East England, on the Anglo-Scottish border, border with Scotland. It is bordered by the North Sea to the east, Tyne and Wear and County Durham to the south, Cumb ...

, in the village of

Gilsland Gilsland is a village in northern England about west of Hexham, and about east of Carlisle, which straddles the border between Cumbria and Northumberland. The village provides an amenity centre for visitors touring Hadrian's Wall and other f ...

. He studied in

Hexham Hexham ( ) is a market town and civil parish in Northumberland, England, on the south bank of the River Tyne, formed by the confluence of the North Tyne and the South Tyne at Warden nearby, and close to Hadrian's Wall. Hexham was the administra ...

at the Queen Elizabeth High School when he was a teenager, where he first met Mike Spearman and

Alex Niven Alex Niven (born 18 February 1984, Hexham, Northumberland) is a British writer, poet, editor, academic and musician. he is a lecturer in English literature at Newcastle University and the editor of ''Tribune (magazine), Tribune''. Early life ...

and started making music with them.Everything Everything interview in ''The Collective Review''
by Von Von Lamunu, 16 June 2010 During his A Levels, Higgs set up the satirical website "Edexhell", which mocked the poor quality of exam papers issued by

Edexcel Edexcel (also known since 2013 as Pearson Edexcel) is a British multinational education and examination body formed in 1996 and wholly owned by Pearson plc since 2005. It is the only privately owned examination board in the United Kingdom. It ...

that had affected his grades, and launched a campaign to have the board's accreditation withdrawn by the

Qualifications and Curriculum Authority The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency (QCDA), previously known as the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (QCA), was a charity, and an executive non-departmental public body (NDPB) of the Department for Education. In Engl ...

. No further legal action against the board was taken after Higgs' grades were eventually corrected upon appeal.

Musical career and Everything Everything

Higgs went on to study Popular Music and Recording at

Salford University The University of Salford is a Public university, public research university in Salford, Greater Manchester, Salford, Greater Manchester, England, west of Manchester city centre. The Royal Technical Institute, Salford, which opened in 1896, be ...

, where the

line-up became complete. Together with Jeremy Pritchard and Michael Spearman, Higgs and Niven wrote and composed songs for their planned first album. For the duration of Everything Everything's career, Higgs has directed the vast majority of the band's music videos. His high-pitched vocals became his trademark in the music world after "

Kemosabe Ke-mo sah-bee (; often spelled kemo sabe, kemosabe or kimosabe) is the term used by the fictional Native American sidekick Tonto as the " Native American" name for the Lone Ranger in the American ''Lone Ranger'' radio program and television show. ...

"'s release in 2013, a song which won him his first grand music award—the UK Single of the Year at the Music Producers Guild Awards. Since "Kemosabe", the band have released 22 singles, as well as five LPs and two EPs: Their 2015 album '' Get to Heaven'', 2017 album ''

A Fever Dream ''A Fever Dream'' is the fourth studio album by English band Everything Everything. Recorded with producer James Ford of Simian Mobile Disco and mixed by Cenzo Townshend, it was released on 18 August 2017 on RCA Records. It peaked at number fiv ...

'', 2018 extended play ''A Deeper Sea'', 2020 album ''

Re-Animator ''Re-Animator'' (also known as ''H. P. Lovecraft's Re-Animator'') is a 1985 American comedy horror film loosely based on the 1922 H. P. Lovecraft serial novelette " Herbert West–Reanimator". Directed by Stuart Gordon and produced by Brian Y ...

'', 2021 extended play ''Supernormal'', 2022 album '' Raw Data Feel'', and 2024 album ''

Mountainhead ''Mountainhead'' is the seventh studio album by British band Everything Everything. It was released on 1 March 2024 through BMG. Background and theme Their third release in the span of two years, following '' Raw Data Feel'' in 2022 and a re ...

''.

Personal life

Higgs lives in Manchester and used to live with 11 cats.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgs, Jonathan 1985 births Living people Alumni of the University of Salford People from Gilsland Musicians from Northumberland English rock singers Countertenors Musicians from Newcastle upon Tyne Writers from Newcastle upon Tyne