Michael Stafford (born 12 July 1990), better known as Maverick Sabre, is an Irish singer, songwriter, and rapper.
Early life
Stafford was born in
Stoke Newington
Stoke Newington is an area in the northwest part of the London Borough of Hackney, England. The area is northeast of Charing Cross. The Manor of Stoke Newington gave its name to Stoke Newington (parish), Stoke Newington, the ancient parish. S ...
, in
Hackney, London
Hackney is a district in East London, England, forming around two-thirds of the area of the modern London Borough of Hackney, to which it gives its name. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northeast of Charing Cross and includes part of the Queen ...
. At age four, he moved with his family to New Ross, County Wexford, where he grew up. Following advice from English musician Plan B and Harry Jessop, he moved back to London to pursue a musical career.
Career
Sabre's career began in 2008 when he appeared on the tracks "Lucky" and "Used to Blame" from the album ''Sense the Terror'' by Irish rappers Terawrizt and Nu-Centz. He also featured on rappers Johnnyboy and Intox's ''Propaganda'' EP and released his own tracks, such as "Lonely Side of Life" and "Fade Away". Sabre furthered his career in 2009 when he featured on Jermicide & Danny Digg's album ''Middle Class'', collaborating on three tracks: "Afraid", "Where We Go to", and "Still With Me". Maverick Sabre also performed on SB.TV with the song "They Found Him a Gun" and featured in BBC 1Xtra 'Jail Tales' programme, performing "These Walls". Sabre then returned to working with his earlier cohorts, featuring on Terawrizt's album ''Written in Stone'' and Terawrizt & Nu-Centz' album ''Sense The Terror 2'', appearing on tracks such as "Life Fly By". On 25 November 2010, Sabre released his debut mixtape, ''The Travelling Man'', in the United Kingdom. The release was a free digital download and featured the track "Sometimes" along with a promotional video to accompany the song.
On 6 January 2011, "Sometimes" was released as a single by Impala Records. Sabre guested on
drum and bass
Drum and bass (commonly abbreviated as DnB, D&B, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterised by fast Break (music)#Breakbeat (element of music), breakbeats (typically 165–185 Tempo, beats per minute) with heavy Bass (music) ...
duo
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 ...
's second studio album '' No More Idols'', on "Fire in Your Eyes". He also features on "Sleepless", a song regularly performed live by Chase & Status, however no studio version has been released to date. Sabre featured on Professor Green's fourth single "
Jungle
jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaṅgala'' ...
", released on 1 January 2010, which was featured on the album '' Alive Till I'm Dead''. The single debuted at number 34 on the UK Singles Chart, peaking at 31 the following week.UK Singles Chart – Week Ending: 22 January 2011
The Official Charts Company
The Official UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
, Retrieved 6 February 2011. On 28 February 2011, Maverick released his debut single "Look What I Done", taken from the
extended play
An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...
''The Lost Words'', released on 7 March 2011.Maverick Sabre performs at Maida Vale Studios mavericksabre.com, Retrieved 3 February 2011. On 19 April 2011, Sabre performed with a live band on
BBC Two
BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...
's ''
Later… with Jools Holland
''Later... with Jools Holland'' (also known as ''Even Later... with Jools Holland'', and previously known as ''Later Live... with Jools Holland'' and ''...Later with Jools Holland'') is a contemporary British music television show hosted by Jo ...
''. After his performance of
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentWonderwall" on
Chris Moyles
Christopher David Moyles (born 22 February 1974) is an English radio and television presenter, author and presenter of '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on Radio X.
Previously he presented '' The Chris Moyles Show'' on BBC Radio 1 from 2004 to 2012 ...
'
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...
Comic Relief show, Maverick's extended play ''The Lost Words'' reached number 2 in the iTunes Store Top Ten Songs chart. In 2011, he also appeared on
The Script
The Script are an Irish Soft rock, soft-rock band formed in 2001 in Dublin. The band currently consists of Danny O'Donoghue (lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Glen Power (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Benjamin Seargent (bass, backin ...
's Science & Faith Tour supporting the Irish band, and performed his song " Let Me Go", which entered the UK Singles Chart at number 16 in August 2011.
On 25 July 2011, Sabre's first single " Let Me Go" was released and entered the UK chart at number 16. He released his debut album, '' Lonely Are The Brave'', on 6 February 2012. He then released singles " I Need", "What Have I Done To You" and " No One". Sabre featured on a remix of his song "I Need" with rappers
Chipmunk
Chipmunks are small, striped rodents of subtribe Tamiina. Chipmunks are found in North America, with the exception of the Siberian chipmunk which is found primarily in Asia.
Taxonomy and systematics
Chipmunks are classified as four genera: '' ...
Jason Donovan
Jason Sean Donovan (born 1 June 1968) is an Australian actor and singer. He initially achieved fame in the Australian soap ''Neighbours'', playing Scott Robinson, before beginning a career in music in 1988. In the UK he has sold over 3 millio ...
in the 2012–2014 live shows. Around this time, Sabre started working with a teenage
Jorja Smith
Jorja Alice Smith (born 11 June 1997) is an English singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Walsall, West Midlands, she has been writing songs since the age of 11. In 2012, Smith's friend uploaded her cover of Labrinth's "Earthquake" to YouT ...
and she became his protégé, who he ultimately introduced to the UK.
On 9 April 2014, Sabre released a video for the single "Breathe".
On 24 July 2014, Sabre released a video for the remix from "Emotion (Ain't Nobody)", featuring Chip, Devlin and George the Poet.
The album was released on 31 October 2015. Sabre was also featured on the track "Carry Me Home" from Jorja Smith's album Project 11, released on 17 November 2016.
On 22 March 2019, Sabre released his third studio album titled '' When I Wake Up'' on his own imprint FAMM. The record was promoted by the singles "Drifting", "Her Grace" (featuring Chronixx), "Slow Down"(featuring Jorja Smith) and "Glory".
On 26 March 2020, "Glory" was featured on American medical drama ''
Grey's Anatomy
''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...
'' episode " Love of My Life".
In June 2020, Sabre announced a new EP titled ''You Know How It Feels'', scheduled to be released on 24 July 2020 via FAMM. The EP is promoted by lead single "Signs" released on 26 June.
On 28 January 2022 Sabre released his fourth studio album '' Don't Forget to Look Up''.