Theo David Hutchcraft (born 30 August 1986) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lead singer of the

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

duo

Hurts Hurts may refer to: * Pain, injury or suffering * Hurts (duo), British musical duo * Hurts (song), "Hurts" (song), by Emeli Sandé, 2016 * "Hurts", a song by Lany from ''LANY (album), LANY'', 2017 * "Hurts", a song by Mika from ''No Place in Heaven ...

Early life

Theo David Hutchcraft was born on 30 August 1986 in

Richmond, North Yorkshire Richmond is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is located at the point where Swaledale, the upper valley of the River Swale, opens into the Vale of Mowbray. The town's population at the 2011 ...

. He attended

Richmond School Richmond School & Sixth Form College, often referred to simply as Richmond School, is a coeducational comprehensive secondary school with academy status, located in North Yorkshire, England. It was created by the merger of three schools, the ...

in Richmond, Queen Elizabeth Sixth Form College in

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

and the

University of Salford 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 ...

Career

Hutchcraft met Adam Anderson and Scott Forster 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 ...

in 2004. Over the next few months, they exchanged music and lyrics via email before forming the band Bureau in March 2006, along with Flick Ward and Jamie Alsop. They performed their first gig in May at The Music Box in Manchester, and were signed to independent record label High Voltage Sounds shortly afterwards. They released their first

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of vinyl records and cassettes, and the terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side of a single usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or ...

single "After Midnight / Dollhouse" in November, which was made "Single of the Week" on

Xfm Radio X is a British national commercial radio station focused on alternative music, primarily indie rock, and owned by Global. The station launched in 1989 as a pirate radio station named Q102, before being renamed Xfm in 1992. The station b ...

. Bureau disbanded in 2007, and Hutchcraft and Anderson formed the band Daggers soon after. They signed to Label Fandango and released another double A-side single, "Money / Magazine". Despite failing to chart, the single was nominated for the

Popjustice £20 Music Prize The Popjustice £20 Music Prize, also known as the Popjustice Twenty Quid Prize, is an annual prize awarded by music website Popjustice to recognise the best British pop single of the previous year. The prize was conceived by Popjustice founder ...

. Daggers continued to build a following throughout 2008, and worked with successful producers such as Biff Stannard and

Richard X Richard Philips, better known by his stage name Richard X, is a British songwriter and music producer. Gaining attention as a pioneer of the bootleg craze, Richard X has earned success as a producer and remixer. He has helmed hit singles for art ...

; however, after a disastrous showcase gig for record label representatives in

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 ...

, Hutchcraft and Anderson returned to Manchester in September to reflect on the band's future. They recorded the mournful ballad "Unspoken" together and realised that this was the sound they wanted to develop. After informing the other members of Daggers that they would be leaving the band to continue as a duo, they went on a short break to

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, where they claim to have been inspired by a little-known genre from the early 1990s called "disco lento". Now called

, Hutchcraft and Anderson recorded a low-budget music video for their song " Wonderful Life" with a female dancer who had responded to an advert they placed in a shop window. After they uploaded the video to their

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in April 2009, it quickly went

viral The word ''Viral'' means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). It may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spre ...

, and they were signed to the

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

imprint Major Label three months later. The music video was remade with a bigger budget and more dancers, and this version has received over 87 million views on YouTube. Hurts finished fourth on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

's "Sound of 2010" poll, and

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reed Lowe (born 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence through pr ...

premiered their song " Blood, Tears & Gold" as his "Hottest Record in the World" soon after. They performed their first gig on 22 January at the Michalsky

Stylenite StyleNite is a cultural event organized by Berlin's designer Michael Michalsky. It has evolved from Michalsky's fashion shows and takes place twice a year during Berlin Fashion Week. Since January 2010 the event is officially titled ''StyleNite ...

in Berlin, followed by a gig on 22 February at St Phillips Church in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

, where they performed eight songs. This was quickly followed by gigs at Wiltons Music Hall in London, and more gigs in Berlin and

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. Following an unexpected surge in popularity after their music was played on radio stations in Greece, they were invited to perform at the

MAD Video Music Awards The MAD Video Music Awards is a Greek award show presented by the MAD TV. The awards honor the year's biggest achievements in music, voted by the viewers of the station. Winners receive an authentic Mad designed award with the graphics of that ye ...

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

in June. That same month, it was announced that the duo would release a song featuring vocals from

Kylie Minogue Kylie Ann Minogue (; born 28 May 1968) is an Australian singer, songwriter, and actress. Frequently referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Princess of Pop", she has achieved recognition in both the music industry and fas ...

. The song, "Devotion", was later included on the band's debut album. Hurts recorded a performance of Minogue's 1994 hit "

Confide in Me "Confide in Me" is a song by Australian singer Kylie Minogue from her Kylie Minogue (album), self-titled fifth studio album (1994). It was released as the album's lead single on 29 August 1994 by Deconstruction Records, Deconstruction, Imago R ...

" for the website of British tabloid ''

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 ...

'', and the song has since been regularly performed during their concerts. Minogue later covered "Wonderful Life" during a BBC Radio 1

Live Lounge The Live Lounge is a segment on the British radio stations BBC Radio 1 and BBC Radio 1Xtra. It was originally hosted by Simon Mayo, and later by Jo Whiley on her weekday mid-morning, and later weekend lunchtime radio shows, then by Fearne Cott ...

appearance. Hurts' debut album ''

Happiness Happiness is a complex and multifaceted emotion that encompasses a range of positive feelings, from contentment to intense joy. It is often associated with positive life experiences, such as achieving goals, spending time with loved ones, ...

'' was released in September 2010, reaching the top 10 in 12 European countries and selling over 1 million copies worldwide. They also sold more than 1 million singles worldwide. ''Happiness'' debuted at No. 4 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

, selling 25,000 copies in its first week on sale, making it the fastest-selling debut album by a band in 2010. They have since released four more albums, all of which received positive reviews: ''

Exile Exile or banishment is primarily penal expulsion from one's native country, and secondarily expatriation or prolonged absence from one's homeland under either the compulsion of circumstance or the rigors of some high purpose. Usually persons ...

'' (2013), '' Surrender'' (2015), ''

Desire Desires are states of mind that are expressed by terms like "wanting", "wishing", "longing" or "craving". A great variety of features is commonly associated with desires. They are seen as propositional attitudes towards conceivable states of affa ...

'' (2017), and ''

Faith Faith is confidence or trust in a person, thing, or concept. In the context of religion, faith is " belief in God or in the doctrines or teachings of religion". According to the Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, faith has multiple definitions, inc ...

'' (2020). Hutchcraft co-wrote the songs "Saturdays", "Silver Tongues", and "She Is Beauty We Are World Class" for

Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson ( ; born 24 December 1991) is an English singer, songwriter, and fashion designer. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, Tomlinson auditioned for British singing competition ''The X Factor'' as a solo artist in 2010, w ...

's 2022 album '' Faith in the Future''.

Discography

With Hurts

* ''

'' (2010) * ''

'' (2013) * '' Surrender'' (2015) * ''

'' (2017) * ''

'' (2020)

Other songwriting credits

* "Save Disco" by

PNAU Pnau, stylised as PNAU, is an Australian Electronic dance music, dance music trio originating from Sydney, Australia, Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, produ ...

(2017) * " By Your Side" by

Calvin Harris Adam Richard Wiles (born 17 January 1984), known professionally as Calvin Harris (and sometimes under the stage name Love Regenerator), is a Scottish DJ, record producer, singer, and songwriter. His debut studio album, ''I Created Disco'' (2007 ...

and

Tom Grennan Thomas Grennan (born 8 June 1995) is an English singer and songwriter from Bedford. Grennan found fame as the guest vocalist on Chase & Status's "All Goes Wrong" in 2016. His debut album, ''Lighting Matches'', was released in July 2018. The a ...

(2021) * "Saturdays" by

(2022) * "Silver Tongues" by Louis Tomlinson (2022) * "She Is Beauty We Are World Class" by Louis Tomlinson (2022) * "Valentine" by

Måneskin is an Italian Rock music, rock band formed in Rome in 2016. The band is composed of lead vocalist Damiano David, bassist Victoria De Angelis, guitarist Thomas Raggi, and drummer Ethan Torchio. Performing in the streets in their early days, Mån ...

(2023) * "Happier" by

Omar Rudberg Omar Josué Rudberg (born González, 12 November 1998) is a Venezuelan-Swedish singer and actor. Before launching his solo career in 2018, he gained recognition and began his professional music career in 2013 as a member of the Swedish boy band ...

(2023) * "

Free Free may refer to: Concept * Freedom, the ability to act or change without constraint or restriction * Emancipate, attaining civil and political rights or equality * Free (''gratis''), free of charge * Gratis versus libre, the difference betw ...

" by Calvin Harris and

Ellie Goulding Elena Jane Goulding ( ; born 30 December 1986) is an English singer, songwriter, and activist. Born in Hereford and raised in Lyonshall, Goulding began writing songs at the age of 15. She released her debut single " Under the Sheets" through ...

(2024)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutchcraft, Theo 1986 births Living people Alumni of the University of Salford English male singer-songwriters English singer-songwriters English rock singers Musicians from North Yorkshire People from Richmond, North Yorkshire RCA Records artists Place of birth missing (living people) Synth-pop singers 21st-century English singers 21st-century English male singers