Arctic Monkeys Biography

The Arctic Monkeys were established in Sheffield, England, in 2002, founded by Andy Nicholson, Matt Helders, Nick O’Malley, Jamie Cook, and Alex Turner. The Arctic Monkeys first appeared on stage in the summer of 2003 in a local performance, and the group began to establish a following in Sheffield. After recording a series of demos, but also began to promote themselves through MySpace, becoming one of the earliest groups to truly use the social media forum to garner the attention of major record labels.

As the Arctic Monkeys began to increase in popularity throughout the entire country, they started to garner attention from the press, both print and radio. After establishing their own label, the Arctic Monkeys released an EP, Five Minutes with Arctic Monkeys, which featured the songs “From the Ritz to the Rubble” and “Fake Tales of San Francisco.” A performance at the Reading and Leeds Festival brought the group to Domino, and they signed with the label in the summer of 2005. Epic Records signed the Arctic Monkeys in the United States, and the Arctic Monkeys began their quest for international stardom.

The group came closer to that goal when their major label single release, “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor,” rose to the number one spot on the UK charts after its release. The follow-up single, “When the Sun Goes Down,” also performed as well. It was no surprise when the Arctic Monkey’s debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That’s What I’m Not, became the fastest-selling album in chart history in the UK, selling nearly four hundred thousand copies in its first week alone. Upon its release in the United States a month later, the album entered in the top twenty and became America’s second fastest selling album for a debut indie album.

Since that time, the Arctic Monkeys have released the additional albums: Favourite Worst Nightmare (2007), Humbug (2009), Suck It and See (2011), and AM (2013.) The albums spawned the additional singles: “Leave Before the Lights Come On,” “Brianstorm,” “Fluorescent Adolescent,” “Crying Lighting,” “Cornerstone,” “My Propeller,” “R U Mine?,” “Do I WAnna Know?” and “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?”

The Arctic Monkeys have so far earned three Grammy nominations and won seven Brit Awards.  Although Nicholson left the band shortly after its inception, the Arctic Monkeys continue to perform and record with Turner, Cook, O’Malley, and Helders.