- Alex Lloyd
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This article is about the Australian singer-songwriter. For the American football player, see Alex Loyd. For the motor racing driver, see Alex Lloyd (racing driver).
Alex Lloyd, 2010
Alex Lloyd Birth name Alexander Wasiliev Also known as Alex Lloyd Born 19 September 1974 Origin Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Genres Pop
MOR
Alternative rock[1]Occupations Singer
SongwriterInstruments Vocals Years active 1997–present Labels Table Music distributed by Inertia Associated acts Mother Hubbard, Mad Bastards Trio Website www.AlexLloyd.com Alex Lloyd (born 19 September 1974, Sydney) is an Australian singer-songwriter. His most popular album Watching Angels Mend, which includes the songs "Amazing" and "Green", was released in 2001 went double platinum. His third album Distant Light released in 2003 featured three songs that made the Australian top 40 singles charts. He has also won two ARIA awards for "Male Artist of the Year" in 2000 and 2002.
Contents
Early years
Lloyd grew up in the inner Sydney suburb of Balmain, where he attended Balmain High School (now Sydney Secondary College, Balmain Campus). In 1990 at the age of 15 he was a member of a school rock band that won the 1990 Balmain Battle of the Bands and the 1990 Canterbury high schools Youth Rock competition. This mainly blue-rock band evolved into "The Beefs" which began playing in local pubs and clubs and into indie rock band Mother Hubbard. Born Alexander Wasiliev, Lloyd adopted his mother's maiden name "Lloyd" in tribute, following her unexpected death in 1991.[citation needed]
Solo career
His solo career began in 1997 when he started writing songs for his debut solo album Black The Sun and spent time at a songwriting clinic organised by Miles Copeland, former manager of The Police. Lloyd started producing the album in 1998 and finished the album with producer Ed Buller, a former member of the Psychedelic Furs, who had produced albums by Pulp and Suede.
Black the Sun won a great deal of critical acclaim with Triple J listeners voting it their album of the year. Lloyd won an ARIA award for "Best New Artist" in 1999 and his first award for "Best Male Artist" in 2000.
Lloyd's second album Watching Angels Mend went double platinum in Australia after its release in 2001. The second single, "Amazing", proved to be a breakthrough for him, becoming his first top 40 single in Australia, being the top song on the Triple J Hottest 100 for 2001. It went to go to number one in New Zealand and be the most played track on Australian radio during 2002.
Two further top 40 singles in Australia followed in 2002 "Green" and "Everybody's Laughing". Lloyd went on to win his second ARIA award for "Best Male Artist" and was nominated in several other categories.
Lloyd's third album Distant Light was released in 2003. It featured Jim Moginie and Martin Rotsey of Midnight Oil on several tracks. It was produced by Stuart Miller, who had also produced Watching Angels Mend and mixed by Tony Hoffer who has worked with Air, Beck and Turin Brakes.
Distant Light was also a success on the ARIA charts. Three singles charted from the album — "Coming Home" in August 2003, "1000 Miles" in November 2003, and "Beautiful" in April 2004. The album has been certified platinum in Australia.
In 2005, Lloyd released a new single, entitled "Never Meant to Fail", which reached the top 30 in Australia. This was released on 25 October in the album that featured his own name as the title. This has been nominated by critics as 'his best album yet' but no official recognition of this has yet been made. Singles which have been released from this album ("Never Meant to Fail", "The Wonder" and "Brand New Day") have had significant airplay on radio stations across Australia.
In 2006, Alex Lloyd performed in the grand finale of Dancing With The Stars, singing his breakthrough song, "Amazing". His performance in the show may have helped with sales of his album, as the album re-entered the albums chart a couple of weeks after the show. Alex Lloyd also released his greatest hits compilation, titled Amazing: The Best of Alex Lloyd, which covers all the singles from the four previous Alex Lloyd albums. The limited edition of the compilation features a second CD of B-sides and rarities.
Alex Lloyd released his fifth album Good in the Face of a Stranger in November 2008 independently through Inertia. August 2008, the albums first single "Slow Train" was released through his official website, and the video clip for the track was animated with 7,000 hand drawn pictures. In March 2009, he released his second single "What We Started" from the album. The album did not chart as well as Lloyd's previous albums, however was well-received by critics.
In 2011, Alex Lloyd began touring with Steve and Alan Pigram from The Pigram Brothers. The trio had worked on the soundtrack for the Australian film Mad Bastards, and the reviews of the music were almost largely positive. The trio became known as the Mad Bastards Trio and used the tour to promote the film, which was released on May 5, 2011. The tour ended later that month. The Mad Bastards Trio also performed on Adam Hills in Gordon Street Tonight and also had an interview with George Negus about the music and the film itself. One of Lloyd's songs from Good in the Face of a Stranger, "Slow Train" made it onto the soundtrack, along with songs written by the Pigram Brothers, but the majority of the soundtrack was written as a collaboration between the trio.
The music from the Mad Bastards Trio received a very positive reception, receiving three nominations for the 2011 APRA Awards, (Best Original Song Composed for the Screen- "Won't Look Back" by Alex Lloyd; Best Soundtrack Album and Feature Film Score of the Year).
Personal life
Alex is married to Amelia Wasiliev and they have three sons, Jake, Isaac and Elvis. Alex took part in Celebrity MasterChef Australia in 2009. He made it into the final four with INXS guitarist Kirk Pengilly, swimmer Eamon Sullivan and model Rachael Finch. However, he missed going through to the grand final, after failing to impress the judges enough with his chocolate swirl croquembouche.
Discography
Studio albums
Year Album Name Peak positions
(Aus)Peak positions
(NZ)Certifications 1999 Black the Sun 9 — AUS: Platinum 2001 Watching Angels Mend 2 22 AUS: 2x Platinum 2003 Distant Light 9 — AUS: Platinum 2005 Alex Lloyd 7 — AUS: Platinum 2006 Amazing: The Best of Alex Lloyd 34 — — 2008 Good in the Face of a Stranger 80 — — "—" denotes the album did not chart or achieve certification Singles
Release Date Single Peak Positions (Aus) Peak Positions (NZ) Peak Positions (UK) Peak Positions (Dutch) Certification Album 23 October 1998 "Peepshow/Momo" - - - - N/A non-album single 24 July 1998 "Black the Sun" 86 - - - N/A Black The Sun 25 May 1999 "Lucky Star" 91 - - - N/A Black The Sun 26 August 1999 "Something Special" - - - - N/A Black The Sun 25 May 2000 "My Way Home" 50[2] - - - N/A Black The Sun 9 July 2001 "Downtown" 75 - - - N/A Watching Angels Mend 17 September 2001 "Amazing" 14[2] 1[3] 176[4] 91 AUS: Gold Watching Angels Mend 18 February 2002 "Green" 25[2] - - - N/A Watching Angels Mend 20 August 2002 "Everybody's Laughing" 33[2] - - - N/A Watching Angels Mend 2002 "Bus Ride" - - - - N/A Watching Angels Mend 2003 "Coming Home" 24[2] - - - N/A Distant Light 2003 "1000 Miles" 32[2] - - - N/A Distant Light 27 April 2004 "Beautiful" 30[2] - - - N/A Distant Light 19 July 2004 "Hello The End" - - 146[4] - N/A Distant Light 12 August 2005 "Never Meant To Fail" 27[2] - - - N/A Alex Lloyd 2006 "The Wonder" - - - - N/A Alex Lloyd 2006 "Stand Down" 51 - - - N/A Alex Lloyd 2006 "Sometimes" 57 - - - N/A Alex Lloyd 8 April 2006 "Brand New Day" 53 - - - N/A Alex Lloyd 4 October 2008 "Slow Train" - - - - N/A Good in the Face of a Stranger 2009 "What We Started" - - - - N/A Good in the Face of a Stranger The song "Peepshow" was released as a video-only single at an unknown date in 1998.
Awards and nominations
ARIA Awards
Year Award[5] Work Result 1999 Breakthrough Artist - Single "Lucky Star" Won Best Male Artist Nominated 2000 Breakthrough Artist - Album Black the Sun Nominated Best Male Artist Won Album of the Year Nominated 2002 Producer of the Year Watching Angels Mend Nominated Best Rock Album Nominated Best Male Artist Won Highest Selling Album Nominated Album of the Year Nominated Highest Selling Single "Amazing" Nominated Single of the Year Nominated 2003 Best Male Artist "Coming Home" Won 2004 Engineer of the Year Distant Light Nominated Best Male Artist Nominated References
- ^ Alex Lloyd on Myspace
- ^ a b c d e f g h Alex Lloyd chart positions. Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
- ^ "Amazing - New Zealand top 50 chart run". Charts.org.nz. Retrieved 5 November 2009.
- ^ a b "Chart Log UK - DJ Steve L. – LZ Love". Zobbel.de. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
- ^ "History: Winners by Artist: Alex Lloyd". ARIA Awards. Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA). http://www.ariaawards.com.au/history-by-artist.php?letter=A&artist=Alex%20Lloyd. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
External links
Categories:- 1974 births
- Living people
- Australian musicians
- Australian singer-songwriters
- People from Sydney
- ARIA Award winners
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