Johnny Borrell

One of the most colourful characters to emerge in the British rock scene of the 2000s, guitarist/singer/pianist/songwriter Johnny Borrell struck it big with the hit band Razorlight. He launched his pop career at 17 playing bass in the band Violet and when they split in 1997, he did some solo gigs covering Clash and Leadbelly songs and was involved in an early incarnation of The Libertines; their song The Boy Looked At Johnny is reputedly about Borrell. In 2002 he formed his own band, Razorlight, who became such a hot live act they were the subject of a record company bidding war. Mercury Records won their signature and the band went on to have a Top 10 hit with the single Golden Touch and a top three album with Up All Night. Jumping around on stage, the charismatic, extrovert Borrell was their undoubted star, becoming an iconic figure in other cultural fields. He wrote the music for fashion brand Dior's Paris show, which based its 2005 autumn/winter collection on the style of Borrell and Pete Doherty. Meanwhile Razorlight had a Number 2 hit single with Somewhere Else - described by Q magazine as "a punk symphony" - and topped the UK album chart with the Razorlight album. Third album Slipway Fires followed in 2007 and Borrell duetted with Ray Davies singing Sunny Afternoon at the BBC Electric Proms. He went on to collaborate with Florence Welch of Florence & The Machine and, in 2013, went on to release his first solo album Borrell 1, produced by Trevor Horn. Borrell described the autobiographical album - which was recorded in his own house - as "the highlight of my career."

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