Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson, born September 29, 1967, in Haywards Heath, England, won over British critics eager for fresh echoes of David Bowie or Morrissey once Suede delivered its self-titled debut album in 1993. As a child he devoted time to sports yet nursed dreams of rock fame. In his teenage years he played guitar in local groups such as the Pigs and Geoff, the latter including Mat Osman, who later became Suede’s bassist. Anderson formed Suede with Osman and guitarists Bernard Butler and Justine Frischmann, his girlfriend at the time. Simon Gilbert joined on drums in 1991, while Frischmann left the following year to front Elastica. Anderson’s cryptic remarks about his sexuality already provoked tabloid debate in Britain before the band’s first record reached stores. Suede reached number one on the U.K. charts in 1993. By fusing Morrissey’s homoerotic stance with Bowie’s theatrical glamour, Anderson achieved overnight celebrity at home. American audiences, still enthralled by grunge, found his brooding, exaggerated vocals at odds with the blunt rage of Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain and Pearl Jam’s Eddie Vedder. Butler’s departure in 1994 sparked fears that Suede would collapse, yet the band kept issuing albums that earned both acclaim and strong sales across the U.K.

After Suede disbanded following 2002’s A New Morning, Anderson surprised observers by reuniting with Butler in the Tears, whose album Here Come the Tears appeared in 2005. The collaboration ended quickly, prompting Anderson to pursue solo work that yielded three increasingly restrained records over the next three years: Brett Anderson in 2007, Wilderness in 2008, and Slow Attack in 2009. Entering the new decade he revived his rock ambitions by reassembling Suede in 2010 and touring with the group into the following year. That autumn he also issued Black Rainbows, his most forceful solo album to date.