The 1975

Britain's ever-shifting outfit the 1975 merges infectious dance-rock grooves with refined adult-contemporary polish while venturing into arty electronica and pitch-corrected pop. Their self-titled first album landed in 2013, propelling the group to worldwide acclaim by claiming the top spot on the U.K. charts and climbing inside the Billboard 200's upper thirty. Even stronger results followed with 2016's I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It, which ascended to number one on both the British and American lists. Although subsequent releases kept them on the charts, including Top Five placements for 2018's A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships and 2020's Notes on a Conditional Form, the quartet pressed onward with sonic exploration, adopting an increasingly boundary-blurring pop approach. That restless creative path continued on 2022's Being Funny in a Foreign Language.

The four members first crossed paths in 2002 as high-school students in Wilmslow, Cheshire, a Manchester suburb. There, vocalist Matthew Healy, guitarist Adam Hann, bassist Ross MacDonald, and drummer George Daniel began by interpreting punk numbers at local all-ages events before turning toward self-written material. Their debut EP, Facedown, surfaced in 2012 via the British indie imprint Dirty Hit, after which they backed Little Comets on a nationwide trek. The lead cut "The City" received airplay on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 program, while the group's vigorous stage shows won over audiences and attracted notice across music blogs. Late in 2012 the band issued the Sex EP, whose title track earned rotation from BBC Radio 1 tastemaker Zane Lowe.

A third EP emerged in 2013 and yielded the U.K. Top 20 hit "Chocolate." Momentum built as the 1975 performed throughout Britain and received an invitation to SXSW alongside a U.S. run. That year also brought the full-length debut, recorded with producer Mike Crossey (Arctic Monkeys, Foals). The record gathered earlier material such as "Chocolate" and "Sex" alongside the singles "Settle Down" and "Girls," the latter reaching number 12 on the Billboard Hot Rock Songs chart. A chart-topper at home, The 1975 lifted the band's profile stateside, where it peaked at number 28 on the Billboard 200.

The 1975 followed in 2016 with their second album, again produced by Crossey and titled I Like It When You Sleep, For You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It. The set's singles "Love Me" and "The Sound" signaled a shift toward glossy '80s adult-contemporary pop and R&B textures. To support the release the quartet toured Britain, Europe, and North America, capped by a prominent Saturday Night Live slot. The album opened at number one in both the U.K. and U.S. and earned a Mercury Prize shortlist. In February 2017 the band offered a cover of Sade's "By Your Side" to aid the U.K. charity War Child.

Their third long-player, A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships, arrived in 2018 and carried the Grammy-nominated single "Give Yourself a Try." Displaying an even broader palette of experimental pop, the album topped the U.K. chart and landed at number four on the Billboard 200. It formed the opening half of a two-album sequence whose second installment, the 1975's fourth LP Notes on a Conditional Form, appeared in May 2020. The record again reached number one in Britain and number four in the U.S., featuring a spoken-word contribution from Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg as well as the tracks "People," "If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)," and "The Birthday Party" with guest Phoebe Bridgers.

The next year Healy supported Bridgers at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles during her Reunion Tour. July 2022 brought the first single "Part of the Band" from the group's fifth album, Being Funny in a Foreign Language. Issued that October and co-produced by Healy, drummer/keyboardist George Daniel, and Jack Antonoff, the set fused the experimental leanings of recent work with the wry tunefulness of earlier releases. It crowned the U.K. Albums Chart, reached number seven on the Billboard 200, and secured an Album of the Year nomination at the 2023 Brit Awards.