Gary Lightbody (Singer) - Pics, Videos, Dating, & News Gary Lightbody Male Born Jun 15, 1976 Dr Gary Lightbody is a Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. related links Tired Pony Return On 'i Don't Want You As A Ghost' â Song Premiere Rolling Stone - Aug 26, 2013 ' Click to listen to Tired Pony\'s \"I Don\'t Want You As a Ghost\" When <mark>Gary Lightbody</mark> of Snow Patrol Peter Buck of REM and Richard Colburn of Belle and Sebastian began working on their next album as Tired Pony they had something special from the start opening song \"I Don\'t Want... ' Coldplay Member Appears On 'game Of Thrones' Huffington Post - Jun 03, 2013 '\n \"Game of Thrones\" fans are still reeling from Sunday night\'s penultimate episode, \"The Rains of Castamere,\" a.k.a. the Red Wedding episode, a.k.a. you crazy for this one George RR Martin.

Despite the blood and tears (and blood and blood), Episode 9 did feature one brief moment of levity for those viewers paying close attention: a cameo appearance from Coldplay drummer Will Champion. \n\n Champion played a drummer in the episode, casting that was first announced by EW.com back... New Game Of Thrones Season 3 Poster As Unforgiving As Stone Boom Tron - Nov 16, 2012 ' \n Boom! March 2013 is a little over four months away, but you donât have to wait for todayâs teaser poster reveal for the next addictive season of Game of Thrones on HBO. You can see it now.Â The art work is cold, dark and made of stone, but it gets its point across. Dragons, kings and wildlings return on 03.31.13. The repetition of the number three is also very fitting. It is, after all, season three that weâre waiting on pins and needles for. I like the swords worked into the image. If it...

Family And Friends Shocked By Death Of Massive Attack Vocalist Huffington Post - Oct 29, 2012 '\n Fans and friends are paying tribute to Terry Callier, one of Massive Attack\'s most celebrated collaborators. \n\n The jazz and soul singer has died, aged 67, reportedly found dead at his home on Sunday, with saxophonist Gene Barge confirming his death to the Chicago Sun-Times. \n\n Terry Callier was rediscovered later in his career through collaborations with Beth Orton and Massive Attack \n\n Callier started his career aged 17 after signing a deal with Chess Records and recorde... Learn about the memorable moments in the evolution of Gary Lightbody. CHILDHOOD 1976 Birth Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Jack and Lynne (nÃ©e Wray) Lightbody, on 15 June 1976, Jack Lightbody has been an independent business owner and has roots in Rosemount, Derry. … Read More Gary Lightbody has one sister, Sarah, and attended Rockport School and Campbell College.

Read Less TEENAGE In 1994, Lightbody left home for Scotland to study English literature and English language at the University of Dundee. Lightbody formed a band with Mark McClelland and drummer Michael Morrison in 1994, called Shrug. … Read More Morrison left the band later, and the band were forced to change the name to Polarbear, as another band had claimed the name. In the band's first seven years of existence, they added drummer Jonny Quinn, released two albums (Songs for Polarbears, and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up), and toured with bands such as Levellers, Ash and Travis. The band stayed in Glasgow during the recording of the first two albums. Lightbody used to hold a job at the Nice n Sleazy's Bar in Sauchiehall Street. Today, Lightbody owns a small place in Glasgow and says he will never leave the country behind, though he resides in Belfast. He feels an attachment to the place, as it gave him his first taste of success.<br /><br /> In the early days, Lightbody used to drink very heavily, and in his words, was "irrational, erratic, neurotic".

He had become frustrated by Snow Patrol's lack of financial success and felt lost and aimless. He started cursing at the audience and demolishing the band's equipment. He found himself breaking guitars they could not afford. This phase ran for two years. He later gave up drinking and now does it "for fun" and credits his band mates for the turnaround. The song "Disaster Button" (A Hundred Million Suns) deals with this topic. Though a musician, he cannot read music and has said that he "guesses" his way through chords. Read Less THIRTIES 2007 31 Years Old Lightbody has filled in for DJ Zane Lowe on his BBC radio show on one occasion during the 2007 takeovers. … Read More He was subsequently voted the best fill-in DJ amongst them by the listeners.

He has compiled two DJ mix albums, one in The Trip series: The Trip: Created by Snow Patrol, and another with bandmate Tom Simpson, called Late Night Tales: Snow Patrol on the Late Night Tales series.<br /><br /> In addition to his work with Snow Patrol and DJing, Gary Lightbody has contributed to other projects and works.<br /><br /> Lightbody writes as essayist articles or columns in variously music magazines and newspapers like Q magazine and previously wrote for The Irish Times music section as guest-editor. As an impassioned music fan and DJ, he recommends in his blogs or essays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music. Read Less Show Less In May 2009, Lightbody commenced writing his music column, Gary Lightbody's Band of the Week, in the magazine Q The Music.com.

… Read More In 2011, he wrote as an essayist for The Huffington Post.<br /><br /> As a songwriter/bandleader, he has written songs and lyrics for a wide variety of artists and genres.<br /><br /> In 2000, he formed the Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section, comprising 47 musicians from 20 different bands, including members of bands like Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Idlewild, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap and other musicians. The group released Y'All Get Scared Now, Ya Hear!

in 2001 and Son of Evil Reindeer in 2002.<br /><br /> 2000â2002 <br /><br /> 2005â2006 <br /><br /> 2007â2008 <br /><br /> 2008â2009 <br /><br /> 2010 <br /><br /> 2012 <br /><br /> 2013 <br /><br /> Growing up, Lightbody listened to artists like Super Furry Animals, Quincy Jones, Kool & the Gang, and Michael Jackson. He subsequently got into hard rock bands AC/DC and KISS as a teen, and then alternative acts like Sebadoh, Mudhoney, Pixies and Pavement. Read Less Lightbody's songwriting has earned him much praise. In October 2009, he revealed that a certain "public figure", whom he wanted to remain nameless, told him that the band had written songs that were standards in today's world, and that Snow Patrol songs had become a part of the public consciousness.

… Read More He compared their work to that of artists like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. Lightbody realises this and cites performances of their songs on reality TV shows as an example.<br /><br /> Lightbody has held the view that Snow Patrol may have had an easier time succeeding in the music industry than a band forming at the present time and attempting to become successful, given the changed state of the music industry, specifically how music is obtained by consumers. He questions the public's motive to buy the songs which they have already listened to, and blames Myspace for it.<br /><br /> Of Snow Patrol, Lightbody has said that all albums they managed to sell in the early days were from touring, as there were no unauthorized copies of their music available then. He believes if the current state of the industry continues, it would become impossible for bands starting out to become full-time. Despite this, he observes that the band might not have survived if they had been successful early in their career, as they would have subsequently taken that success for granted. Read Less … He is a fan of the X-Men, particularly Wolverine, and owns a stack of comics.

He bought several comics as a kid and has some that he has never opened, hoping they would become rare collectibles someday; in a later interview, he light-heartedly mentioned that they could earn him a small pension. He considers himself a "comics freak". <br /><br />Despite having written several romantic songs, Lightbody has been reported as having had trouble talking to women. Lightbody has been in many doomed relationships, and he blames their failure on only himself, considering himself "rubbish with women". He attributes the failure partly to him "never being in the same place for very long", and admits that at times he's been hopelessly in love. <br /><br />Lightbody has been involved in numerous causes, mostly related to music and football. He is currently on the board of directors of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Northern Ireland, a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. Read Less He supported young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of Snow Patrol's UK & Ireland Arena Tour of FebruaryâMarch 2009.

… Read More Lightbody is one of the supporting voices for the growing music-scene in his hometown Belfast in Northern Ireland and once stated in an interview to have grown up as an "Indie rock kid" inspired to become a musician through influences of artists and acts such as Kurt Cobain, Super Furry Animals, and Sebadoh.<br /><br /> Lightbody has worked with the aid organisation Save the Children in Uganda, an experience on which he has written in New Statesman. He has also been involved in raising awareness of depression, a condition that he himself has struggled with. Read Less 2012 36 Years Old In July 2012, Lightbody received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the University of Ulster at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry. … Read More See also Snow Patrol Awards. Read Less Original Authors of this text are noted on . Snow Patrol | Biography, News, Photos and Videos | Contactmusic.com Biography Snow Patrol (formed 1994) Snow Patrol is a Northern Irish band, though they are based in Glasgow, having formed the band in Dundee. The mainstream rock / pop band are signed to Polydor Records.

Formation: In 1994, Gary Lightbody formed a band called Shrug, with Mark McLelland whilst studying at the University of Dundee in Scotland. In 1995, the band changed its name to Polar Bear and then later changed it again to Snow Patrol. In 1997, the band released the Starfighter Pilot EP on the Electric Honey label. Richard Colburn and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian both appeared on the record. The next EP, Little Hide was released on Jeepster Records and its follow-up single, 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed' was a minor hit in the indie charts for the band. Jeepster also released their first two albums, Songs For Polarbears (1998) and When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up (2001). The Breakthrough: Snow Patrol were eventually dropped by Jeepster but later signed to Polydor Records. Their single 'Run' went to number five in the UK singles chart. Their first album for Polydor, Final Straw (2003) peaked at number three.

The follow-up singles to 'Run', 'Chocolate', 'Spitting Games' and 'How To Be Dead' were all Top 40 hits. The album's release in the United States saw sales over 250,000 units and in 2005 they supported U2 on the Vertigo Tour in Europe. They were also included on the bill at London's leg of the Live 8 concert. The band's cover of John Lennon's 'Isolation' was included on tribute album Instant Karma: the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur. Snow Patrol's second album, Eyes Open was released in May 2006. The song 'Chasing Cars' was featured on the hit TV show Gray's Anatomy, greatly helping the band's commercial success. 'Open Your Eyes' was also featured in an episode of ER and 'Tell Me You Love Me' was featured on the popular UK comedy show Gavin and Stacey. 'Signal Fire' was the lead song for the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack. In 2006, Snow Patrol was the last band ever to feature on the long-running BBC show Top of the Pops.

Eyes Open was crowned the best selling album of 2006, despite fierce competition from Take That and Arctic Monkeys, with sales of 1.6 million. Biography by Contactmusic.com Gary Lightbody | Biography & History | AllMusic google+ Artist Biography by James Pearce Gary Lightbody is a vocalist and musician best known for his work in the band Snow Patrol . In addition to the band, Lightbody has worked on numerous collaborations and projects, and also as a featured artist. Lightbody was born and brought up in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, but didn't start creating music until he moved to Dundee, Scotland in 1994. This is where he formed the band Shrug with Mark McClelland , with whom he would later go on to form Snow Patrol . The band quickly changed its name to Polarbear and managed to tour with the likes of Ash and the Levellers . As the band progressed, it underwent a name change to the more familiar Snow Patrol and released two albums -- Songs for Polarbears in 1998 and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up in 2001.

The period after the first two releases had its rough patches; touring constantly without financial backing or success nearly threw the band into turmoil. Snow Patrol managed to hold it together and released Final Straw in 2003, one of their most successful albums, which included the singles "Run" and "Chocolate." Snow Patrol went on to enjoy the best part of their career with many commercial successes, including the hit single "Chasing Cars." Gary Lightbody - TV.com Gary Lightbody EDIT Gary Lightbody is the frontman of Irish rock band Snow Patrol. In 1994 Lightbody formed the band Polar Bears but later changed the name to Snow Patrol facing legal action from an American Band of the same name. Lightbody attended both Campbell College and Dundee University, where he… more Credits S 10: Ep 20 Live Results Show 4 11/3/13 S 3: Ep 3 Walk of Punishment 4/14/13 S 5: Ep 7 September 16, 2006 9/16/06 Become a contributor Important: You must only upload images which you have created yourself or that you are expressly authorised or licensed to upload.

By clicking "Publish", you are confirming that the image fully complies with TV.com’s Terms of Use and that you own all rights to the image or have authorization to upload it. Please read the following before uploading Do not upload anything which you do not own or are fully licensed to upload. The images should not contain any sexually explicit content, race hatred material or other offensive symbols or images. Remember: Abuse of the TV.com image system may result in you being banned from uploading images or from the entire site – so, play nice and respect the rules! Choose background: Gary Lightbody Tickets & Tour Dates 2016/2017 - Stereoboard Gary Lightbody Tickets & Tour Dates 2016/2017 Home > Tickets & Tour Dates > Indie > Gary Lightbody Gary Lightbody is a Northern Irish singer songwriter, from Bangor, County Down, best known for being the lead singer and guitarist, for the indie rock band Snow Patrol. Formed in 1994, Snow Patrol, found mainstream success with the release of their third album ï¿½Final Strawï¿½ in 2003.

The six-strong outfit have since dominated the UK indie-rock scene, taking their music into power-pop territory, and theyï¿½ve picked up numerous Meteor Ireland Music Awards and have earned a handful of BRIT Awards along their lengthy career. Since the release of their ï¿½Final Strawï¿½ album, Snow Patrol have sold over 10 million albums across the world, earning their first #1 with 2006ï¿½s ï¿½Eyes Openï¿½. They released their sixth studio album ï¿½Fallen Empiresï¿½ in November 2011 and in 2013, they released a Greatest Hits album. He has been involved in various other side-projects, guest vocals appearances, and songwriting for other performers. In December 2015 heï¿½s set to play a solo acoustic show in Belfast. Catch him live by checking out the tour dates and ticket information on Stereoboard below.

Select Currency / Location Gary Lightbody - Bio, Facts, Family | Famous Birthdays Gary Lightbody Singer Born In Northern Ireland#5 About Irish singer and lead guitarist with the alternative rock band Snow Patrol, the group known for songs like "Chasing Cars" and "You Could Be Happy." Before Fame He formed his first band, Shrug, at age eighteen. They went on to change their name to Polarbear and then Snow Patrol. Gary Lightbody - Alchetron, The Free Social Encyclopedia I am a simple man trying to live a simple life !!!!!! Gary Lightbody Born 15 June 1976 (age 39) Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland (1976-06-15) Genres Alternative rock, power pop, indie rock Occupation(s) Singer, guitarist, songwriter Instruments Guitar, vocals, keyboards, glockenspiel Associated acts Snow Patrol, The Reindeer Section, The Cake Sale, Listen...

Tanks!, Tired Pony, Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran Music groups Snow Patrol (Since 1994) Movies Made in Belfast, The Snow Patrol Phenomenon Parents Jack Lightbody, Lynne Lightbody Similar People Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran, Nathan Connolly, Jonny Quinn, Paul Wilson Profiles Gary lightbody Sponsored Links Gary Lightbody (born 15 June 1976) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Northern Ireland best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. Lisa hannigan gary lightbody some surprise live Early life and education Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Jack and Lynne (nee Wray) Lightbody, on 15 June 1976, Jack Lightbody has been an independent business owner and has roots in Rosemount, Derry. Gary Lightbody has one sister, Sarah, and attended Rockport School and Campbell College. In 1994, Lightbody left home for Scotland to study English literature and English language at the University of Dundee.

Snow Patrol Lightbody formed a band with Mark McClelland and drummer Michael Morrison in 1994, called Shrug. Morrison left the band later, and the band were forced to change the name to Polarbear, as another band had claimed the name. In the band's first seven years of existence, they added drummer Jonny Quinn, released two albums (Songs for Polarbears, and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up), and toured with bands such as Levellers, Ash and Travis. The band stayed in Glasgow during the recording of the first two albums. Lightbody used to hold a job at the Nice n Sleazy's Bar in Sauchiehall Street. Today, Lightbody owns a small place in Glasgow and says he will never leave the country behind, though he resides in Belfast. He feels an attachment to the place, as it gave him his first taste of success. In the early days, Lightbody used to drink very heavily, and in his words, was "irrational, erratic, neurotic". He had become frustrated by Snow Patrol's lack of financial success and felt lost and aimless. He started cursing at the audience and demolishing the band's equipment.

He found himself breaking guitars they could not afford. This phase ran for two years. He later gave up drinking and now does it "for fun" and credits his band mates for the turnaround. The song "Disaster Button" (A Hundred Million Suns) deals with this topic. Though a musician, he cannot read music and has said that he "guesses" his way through chords. He has a baritone vocal range. DJing When at the University of Dundee, Lightbody met Nick DeCosemo, a fellow student, and the two became friends. DeCosemo also moved in Lightbody's Springfield apartment when he moved out of his parents' house. Nick had formed a club night called The Spaceship at the Tay Hotel. Along with Lightbody, friends Roy Kerr, Tom Simpson, and Anu Pillai also used to DJ there. They mixed up various styles of music as house, rock, and hip hop. They gained a loyal following and socialised together for about two years. Lightbody later co-wrote "What Are You Waiting For" on the album Strangest Things, with Anu Pillai for Freeform Five.

"What Are You Waiting For" was written before Snow Patrol released Final Straw, during a time when Lightbody was staying over at the band's place for a few days. Pillai had to literally drag a hungover Lightbody to the studio. Once there, however, Gary would come through for them. Sponsored Links Lightbody has filled in for DJ Zane Lowe on his BBC radio show on one occasion during the 2007 takeovers. He was subsequently voted the best fill-in DJ amongst them by the listeners. He has compiled two DJ mix albums, one in The Trip series: The Trip: Created by Snow Patrol, and another with bandmate Tom Simpson, called Late Night Tales: Snow Patrol on the Late Night Tales series. Other projects In addition to his work with Snow Patrol and DJing, Gary Lightbody has contributed to other projects and works. Writing Lightbody writes as essayist articles or columns in variously music magazines and newspapers like Q magazine and previously wrote for The Irish Times music section as guest-editor. As an impassioned music fan and DJ, he recommends in his blogs or essays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music.

In May 2009, Lightbody commenced writing his music column, Gary Lightbody's Band of the Week, in the magazine Q The Music.com. In 2011, he wrote as an essayist for The Huffington Post. Other musical projects As a songwriter/bandleader, he has written songs and lyrics for a wide variety of artists and genres. In 2000, he formed the Scottish supergroup The Reindeer Section, comprising 47 musicians from 20 different bands, including members of bands like Belle & Sebastian, Mogwai, Idlewild, Teenage Fanclub, Arab Strap and other musicians. The group released Y'All Get Scared Now, Ya Hear! in 2001 and Son of Evil Reindeer in 2002. 2000–2002 In addition to work on Snow Patrol and side-project material, Lightbody lent his voice to the band Mogwai (one track on Rock Action). In 2001, he contributed to British breakbeat/electronica musician Cut La Roc's song Fallen.

2005–2006 In 2005, he was included in another musical collective, The Cake Sale, formed by Brian Crosby to raise funds and awareness for Ireland's Make Trade Fair campaign. He partnered with Lisa Hannigan to perform "Some Surprise", a song written by Bell X1's Paul Noonan. The song reached No. 5 on Irish charts as a radio–single release. He contributed vocals to The Freelance Hellraisers Waiting for Clearance debut album in 2006 and for UK producer Kidda's debut album Going Up. 2007–2008 As songwriter for the track "Just Say Yes" for Nicole Scherzinger's debut solo album Her Name Is Nicole but due to the album being shelved the single was re-recorded by Pussycat Dolls and remains unreleased by Scherzinger. In 2009 Gary Lightbody announced in an interview that Snow Patrol would be releasing "Just Say Yes" as the first single from their Up to Now compilation record. In 2007, he lent his voice to British house musician and DJ Cut La Roc's track Mishka on his album Larger Than Life which is yet to be released.

2008–2009 In 2009, he announced that he had begun work on two solo side projects, a country group Tired Pony and an avant-garde group with Snow Patrol producer Jacknife Lee: Listen... Tanks!. August/September 2009: Gary Lightbody joined with bandmates Johnny Quinn and Nathan Connolly to form Polar Music, a publishing music company "run by artists for artists" in co-operation with Universal Music Group and which will be administered by Kobalt Music in London. Polar Music's debut signing is artist Johnny McDaid from Northern Ireland who is currently writing with German Electronica/Trance DJ Paul van Dyk for an album due in 2010. 2010 In January, Gary Lightbody recorded in Portland, Oregon the debut album of his side project Tired Pony with title The Place We Ran From. The album's release was announced for 12 July 2010.

This new supergroup he founded includes Jacknife Lee as producer and musicians like R.E.M.'s guitarist/co-founder Peter Buck, Editors singer Tom Smith, singer and songwriter Iain Archer, Belle & Sebastian's drummer Richard Colburn, The Young Fresh Fellows and The Minus 5 singer Scott McCaughey, She & Him singer Zooey Deschanel, Snow Patrol's touring member guitarist Troy Stewart and guitarist M. Ward. Gary Lightbody and producer Jacknife Lee contributed to the original score for the Irish film My Brothers, which appeared in the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival. Gary Lightbody lends his songwriting and vocal talents to Mishka, a collaboration with Cut La Roc, released on La Roc's 2010 album, 'Larger Than Life'.

During 2010, on tour for several concerts of Snow Patrol and Tired Pony in Europe, USA and South America Collaboration with former Kinks singer Ray Davies on Davies' album See My Friends as song Tired of Waiting for You 2012 Several TV-performances on European and American shows as The Ellen DeGeneres Show and the Late Show with David Letterman Performs with Snow Patrol at the London 2012 Olympics Opening Ceremony Concert in Hyde Park, London Featured on the track "The Last Time" on Taylor Swift's 2012 album Red Performs with Ed Sheeran at the iTunes Festival singing a duet of "Chasing Cars" 2013 Along with Johnny McDaid, performs at the Derry City of Culture Sons and Daughters concert, plays a three song acoustic set singing "Run", "Just Say Yes" (the festival's anthem) and "Chasing Cars". Lightbody, Nathan Connoly and Johnny McDaid play at the Comic Relief 'Funny for Money' show and perform Lifening. Forms "Gary Lightbody and the Assembly" at Stormont for TEDx, records a song, and speaks for TEDx.

Appears in a cameo in the Game of Thrones episode "Walk of Punishment" Appeared on The X Factor UK Season 10 in a duet with Taylor Swift. They sung The Last Time to promote it as a UK single on 3 November 2013. Influences Growing up, Lightbody listened to artists like Super Furry Animals, Quincy Jones, Kool & the Gang, and Michael Jackson. He subsequently got into hard rock bands AC/DC and KISS as a teen, and then alternative acts like Sebadoh, Mudhoney, Pixies and Pavement. As a boy, he dreamed of becoming "the biggest rock star on the planet" like Bono, but he was never "cool". Songwriting Lightbody started writing songs at the age of 15, in a little room under the kitchen of the family's house. He had few guitar lessons where he learnt the basics of the instrument but did not continue them, as he felt that one should not know any instrument "inside-out". He preferred to invent rather than use a formula. Today, he is not too fond of his earliest songs and thinks they "sucked".

His songwriting style is mostly simple and basic, and he acknowledges that, saying he "[never] advanced past rudimentary". He feels the best way to write an honest song is to be simple, and that trying to complicate matters distorts the intended message. He believes the band has always tried to keep things as "simple and pure" as possible and has written from the heart. One of Lightbody's major inspirations to begin writing was notable Irish poet Seamus Heaney; which is alluded to on the B-side track on Snow Patrol's The Planets Bend Between Us single, named 'Reading Heaney To Me'. It also refers extensively to Heaney's poems throughout the lyrics. Lightbody's lyrics typically deal with the topic of love. Although he considers himself a political person and has tried writing songs with such themes, he eventually abandoned his efforts as he found all of them awkward. Lightbody has said that all of the songs from the first two albums; Songs for Polarbears and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up were written from personal experience. His lyrics often criticise himself or are self-deprecatory. He has cited "Chocolate" as an example, which he wrote after cheating on his girlfriend.

He also considers writing a sort of "therapy" for himself. Lightbody's songwriting has earned him much praise. In October 2009, he revealed that a certain "public figure", whom he wanted to remain nameless, told him that the band had written songs that were standards in today's world, and that Snow Patrol songs had become a part of the public consciousness. He compared their work to that of artists like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. Lightbody realises this and cites performances of their songs on reality TV shows as an example. Views on music industry Lightbody has held the view that Snow Patrol may have had an easier time succeeding in the music industry than a band forming at the present time and attempting to become successful, given the changed state of the music industry, specifically how music is obtained by consumers. He questions the public's motive to buy the songs which they have already listened to, and blames Myspace for it. Of Snow Patrol, Lightbody has said that all albums they managed to sell in the early days were from touring, as there were no pirated copies of their music available then. He believes if the current state of the industry continues, it would become impossible for bands starting out to become full-time.

Despite this, he observes that the band might not have survived if they had been successful early in their career, as they would have subsequently taken that success for granted. Personal life Lightbody is known to keep his personal life private. Lightbody is passionate about football (soccer) and has been known to support both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland national football teams. This is supported by the song "Lifening", in which he sings the lyrics "Ireland in the World Cup, either North or South". He is a fan of the X-Men, particularly Wolverine, and owns a stack of comics. He bought several comics as a kid and has some that he has never opened, hoping they would become rare collectibles someday; in a later interview, he light-heartedly mentioned that they could earn him a small pension. He considers himself a "comics freak". Despite having written several romantic songs, Lightbody has been reported as having had trouble talking to women. Lightbody has been in many doomed relationships, and he blames their failure on only himself, considering himself "rubbish with women". He attributes the failure partly to him "never being in the same place for very long", and admits that at times he's been hopelessly in love.

Philanthropy Lightbody has been involved in numerous causes, mostly related to music and football. He is currently on the board of directors of the Oh Yeah Music Centre in Northern Ireland, a project set up to give young artists a place where they can share ideas and kick-start their music careers, as often is the trend of talent leaving the country from lack of appraisal. He supported young bands from Northern Ireland and involved them as support bands to shows of Snow Patrol's UK & Ireland Arena Tour of February–March 2009. Lightbody is one of the supporting voices for the growing music-scene in his hometown Belfast in Northern Ireland and once stated in an interview to have grown up as an "Indie rock kid" inspired to become a musician through influences of artists and acts such as Kurt Cobain, Super Furry Animals, and Sebadoh. Lightbody has worked with the aid organisation Save the Children in Uganda, an experience on which he has written in New Statesman. He has also been involved in raising awareness of depression, a condition that he himself has struggled with.

Honours In July 2012, Lightbody received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the University of Ulster at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry. See also Snow Patrol Awards Guitars Lightbody's main guitar is a Fender '72 Telecaster Deluxe reissue in Black. Gary's guitars are known for the 'CELT' sticker on them. Gretsch 6120 New Nashville – Orange (seen during a 2008 performance on Later...

with Jools Holland) Gretsch G6122-II Chet Atkins Country Gentleman (seen during the Snow Patrol European May – July 2010 tour) Gibson SG – Black with White Pickguard Fender Telecaster '72 Thinline Reissue – Blonde Fender Telecaster (c)'77 Deluxe – Blonde Fender Telecaster Standard – USA model in Yellow Fender Telecaster Standard – Black (seen in music video for Spitting Games) Gibson Les Paul Deluxe – Black (also bears the CELT sticker) Guild Acoustic Diamond Decada Amp Head With Decada 4x12 Cab (Uses two of the same) Mesa Boogie Dual Rectifier Solo Heads With Rectifier 4x12 Cabs Marshall JCM800 2203 With JCM 1960A 4x12 Cab Marshall 3315 Transistor Amp (originally used by Nathan Connolly) with 1960TV 4x12 Cab Vox AC30 CC's Two BOSS SD-1 Super Overdrives BOSS GE-7 Equalizer BOSS RE-20 Space Echo (seen on 2009 board?) Boss DD6/7 (

Seen on 2009 board?) Miscellaneous Picks: Dunlop Tortex Standard Orange .60mm Strings: Gauge .010 Pickup preference: Neck Position.

Amplifier EQ set quite bright for jangly tone Vocal mic: Shure Beta 58 Songs Snow Patrol Official Website :: Band Merch (US) Snow Patrol Snow Patrol's new album, Fallen Empires, arrives with a serious reputation attached. The Irish/Scottish five piece have sold over 11 million albums and have been responsible for several era-defining singles, including Run, Chocolate, and Chasing Cars (which spent an incredible 104 weeks in the UK Top 75 and was voted song of the decade in a Channel 4 poll). Their albums have been nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, Grammys and MTV Europe Music Awards, with Final Straw landing them an Ivor Novello Award in 2005. By anyone's standards, it's been a pretty good century so far. Given its iconic status, The Joshua Tree National Park in south-eastern California seemed as good a place as any to start work on their sixth studio album. In October 2010, the band drove out into the desert with their guitars and one or two rough song ideas. A week later, their writing session at Rancho De La Luna Studios had laid the foundations of the tracks that would comprise Fallen Empires.

Over several months, the five piece - singer Gary Lightbody, guitarist Nathan Connolly, bassist Paul Wilson, drummer Jonny Quinn and keyboardist, Tom Simpson - began a musical road trip around California. They recorded tracks at Eagles Watch, a topsy turvy house in Santa Monica with widescreen windows and panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean. Backing vocals were drawn from the LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir in Compton, south central LA. Later, tracks were mixed at the studio owned by longterm collaborator, Garret 'Jacknife' Lee - a hacienda tucked away in Topanga Canyon, the one time hippy commune and former home to Neil Young and Woody Guthrie. Along the way, R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, US singer Lissie and Queens Of The Stone Age guitarist, Troy Van Leeuwen all popped by to lend a guitar part here, a lyric idea there. Meanwhile, Snow Patrol's new adventures seeped into every note on 'Fallen Empires'. The result is an album that promises to redefine the band as an altogether more ambitious, more expansive, creative force.

"We wanted to make a massively ambitious record," says Gary Lightbody, sipping wine by the pool at Garret Lee's picturesque, Topanga Canyon home. "Arcade Fire's last record (The Suburbs) made us realise that we had to up our game. It was amazing. We decided that we wanted to make a record unlike any other we've made before." "We started writing songs that were more playful, even rawer than before - we were brave enough to do what we wanted as a band, rather than what convention dictated to us. It was tough at times, we were out of our comfort zone for most of it, but I think it's given us a great album." On first listen, its immediately apparent that Fallen Empires breaks new ground for the band. Bolting distorted, electro guitar riffs, club-friendly drums and anthemic choruses to Gary Lightbody's heart-bruised lyricism, this is an album that takes its cues from LCD Soundsystem's The Sound Of Silver, U2's Achtung Baby and The Suburbs, Arcade Fire's aforementioned album. Despite the experimentation, Fallen Empires still retains the essence of Snow Patrol's appeal.

The catch-all emotional dynamics are still there: the soulful New York feels like a festival moment-in-waiting; The Garden Rules a soundtrack to autumnal romance. "I'm really happy with the words," says Gary. "I always try to write about personal experiences - New York is about a girl I was seeing over there. We both had strong feelings for one another, but we were never in the same place at the same time. It's about missed opportunities. The overall feeling of the record is home though - there are stories about my childhood (The Garden Rules) and Garret's kids (Life-ning). Home is the overall theme." Beyond Gary's lyric writing and pop hooks, the band have flexed their creative muscle as a whole. On the album's title track and Weight Of Love Nathan Connolly is revealed as a guitarist with stadium riffs to burn; I'll Never Let Go arrives blitzed with distorted, synth like curlicues and techno-mixed effects. "The most exciting part of making this album is that I felt able to express myself more" says Nathan. This time round I felt confident enough to be really creative when it came to recording my own parts. We also tried to record differently.

I used to write my parts and play them along to Gary's songs. This time Garret would just play the song and say 'Go'. I'd improvise. I had to think on my feet, and it worked." Gary later admits the band decided to release their "inner dance monkey" during recording sessions. "I'll Never Let Go is a proper night out track," says Gary. "It's full blown electro. There's always been a dance element to our music, but this time we've been a bit bolder with it. I'm looking forward to hearing some of these songs in a club because it'll get people going. I always see people walking off the dance floor when they play our records, we're not that kind of band. I'll Never Let Go might change that." Elsewhere, Fallen Empires' call-to-arms anthem is powered by a clattering percussion attack - the sound of dozens of different drums picked up by Jonny Quinn from a local music store in LA. "I was inspired by the drummers I used to see on Venice Beach in Santa Monica," he says. "They were always out there playing - some of them were great, some of them were shit, but they all had different drums and drumming styles.

I just went down to the store and picked up loads of different kits. I started playing them and we layered drum over drum over drum. It was so painful playing them all. By the end of it, my hands had totally swollen up." Cameo roles were later played by Michael Stipe (Gary: "He was very supportive when I had writer's block and gave me the confidence that everything that I had already was worth pursuing further."), Queens Of The Stone Age's Troy Van Leeuwen (Nathan: "We recorded the track Called Out In The Dark with him in LA"), and the LA Inner City Mass Gospel Choir (Gary: "It brought a real soul to songs like I'll Never Let Go"). Lissie was also invited to contribute vocals to four tracks, including The Garden Rules. "I'm a big fan of hers so I got in touch," says Gary. "I didn't write any songs with her specifically in mind, but we just got her to sing on a bunch of stuff and it sounded great, she gave us that Gimme Shelter vibe.

She's a real infectious character - she lights up the room with her energy." The overall results are an album that should mark Snow Patrol as a band big on experimental ideas as well as stadium sized anthems. Fallen Empires feels like a suitably weighty follow-up to the platinum success of 2008's A Hundred Millions Suns and the million-selling 2009 collection Up To Now - it is simply their best record to date. "This feels like a proper record to me," says Gary. "A grown up record, but a fun record. I've always wanted to make an album that could rank with the ones that inspire me, and hopefully this one will. I'm really proud of this album. Listening to it thrills me and that is a beautiful thing indeed."

Question: Gary Lightbody is the lead vocalist of which pop band formed in 1994 ?
Answer: SNOW PATROL