The Darkness (band)

This article is about the British rock band The Darkness . For the German metal band of the same name see Darkness (band) .

The Darkness
The Darkness appears at the Glasgow SECC
General information
origin	Lowestoft , Suffolk , England
Genre (s)	Glam rock , hard rock
founding	1999, 2011
resolution	2006
Website	thedarknesslive.com
Founding members
guitar	Dan Hawkins
Electric bass	Frankie Poullain (until 2005, since 2011)
Drums	Ed Graham (until 2014)
Vocals , lead guitar	Justin Hawkins
Current occupation
guitar	Dan Hawkins
Electric bass	Frankie Poullain (until 2005, since 2011)
Drums	Rufus Taylor (since 2015)
Vocals , lead guitar	Justin Hawkins

The Darkness is a British rock band from Lowestoft in Suffolk, England . The band was founded in 2000 and made famous three years later with their debut album Permission to Land .

style

The band's clothing is based on glam rock . Singer Justin Hawkins appears in spandex suits with cutouts to the belly button. The band's music can be described as a mixture of hard rock and glam rock.

Influences of the band are AC / DC , Queen , Led Zeppelin , Thin Lizzy , Van Halen , and Aerosmith . Justin Hawkins' appearance and singing behavior can on the one hand be compared to that of Freddie Mercury , the singer of Queen , but his singing is also reminiscent of Robert Smith from The Cure . His falsetto voice (head voice), which he often uses as a stylistic device, is particularly striking .

Justin and Dan Hawkins both use Gibson branded Les Paul guitars that they play through Marshall .

history

Dan Hawkins formed the band in 2000 with bassist Frankie Poullain, whom he met in London. Ed Graham, an old school friend of Dan's, from Lowestoft joined them as drummer. However, a singer was still missing. When Dan Hawkins was back in Norfolk at the turn of the millennium, he found his brother Justin there, singing and dancing to Queens Bohemian Rhapsody - a singer was found.

The debut album Permission to Land was released in July 2003 and pushed Beyonce to number 2 in the UK charts in the second week. The group owes this success above all to the constant touring through the pubs of England. They were also the opening act for Def Leppard , Meat Loaf and the Rolling Stones .

The Brit Awards 2004, she won the prices Best British Group , Best British rock band and best album .

In 2005 Frankie Poullain got out and was replaced by the former roadie Richie Edwards.

On November 25, 2005, the second album One Way Ticket To Hell… And Back was released. The first single One Way Ticket was released on November 11th. With the new album, The Darkness moved a bit away from the influences of the first album and went more in the direction of the so-called bombast rock , which was once attributed to Queen.

On October 11, 2006, the English tabloid The Sun reported that Justin Hawkins had left the band due to alcohol and drug problems. The official website of the band already showed a new formation and contained the notice that a new band would soon start under a new name.

On March 14, 2011 it was announced that the band will record a new album with the original line-up and perform at the download festival . In 2012 the album Hot Cakes was released .

Rufus Tiger Taylor, son of Queen drummer Roger Taylor , has been playing the drums since May 2015 .

Stone Gods

On October 10, 2007, Classic Rock Magazine published an article about the band Stone Gods , who had played three concerts as opening act for Thin Lizzy and Queensryche . They were the former members of The Darkness without Justin Hawkins. In the meantime, the band has played numerous concerts and released the limited single / EP Burn the Witch and the album Silver Spoons & Broken Bones .

Hot leg

Justin Hawkins formed his own band under the name Hot Leg, with whom he previously recorded an album called Red Light Fever . The music is very reminiscent of that of The Darkness. The band is currently offering the song Take take take for free download on their official homepage.

Discography

Albums

year	title	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes)					Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK	US
2003	Permission to land	DE19 (18 weeks) DE	AT40 (8 weeks) AT	CH59 (5 weeks) CH	UK1 × 4 Quadruple platinum (53 weeks)UK	US36 (28 weeks) US	First published: July 7, 2003
2005	One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back	DE32 (3 weeks) DE	AT44 (3 weeks) AT	CH48 (2 weeks) CH	UK11 gold (10 weeks)UK	US58 (2 weeks) US	First published: November 28, 2005
2012	Hot cakes	DE16 (2 weeks) DE	AT24 (2 weeks) AT	CH20 (2 weeks) CH	UK4 (3 weeks) UK	US43 (2 weeks) US	First published: August 20, 2012
2015	Last of Our Kind	DE56 (1 week) DE	AT53 (1 week) AT	CH43 (1 week) CH	UK12 (2 weeks) UK	US125 (1 week) US	First published: May 27, 2015
2017	Pinewood Smile	-	-	CH90 (1 week) CH	UK8 (1 week) UK	US190 (1 week) US	First published: October 6, 2017
2018	Live at Hammersmith	-	-	-	UK47 (1 week) UK	-	Live album first published: June 15, 2018
2019	Easter Is Canceled	DE60 (1 week) DE	-	CH79 (1 week) CH	UK10 (1 week) UK	-	First published: October 4, 2019

More albums

• 2008: The Platinum Collection (compilation)
• 2013: The Platinum Correction (live album)

Singles

year	Title album	Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes)				Remarks
		DE	AT	CH	UK
2003	Get Your Hands Off My Woman Permission to Land	-	-	-	UK43 (2 weeks) UK	First published: February 24, 2003
	Growing on Me Permission to Land	-	-	-	UK11 (11 weeks) UK	First published: June 16, 2003
	I Believe in a Thing Called Love Permission to Land	DE47 (7 weeks) DE	-	-	UK2 gold (11 weeks)UK	First published: September 22, 2003
	Christmas Time (Don't Let the Bells End)	-	-	-	UK2 platinum (30 weeks)UK	First published: December 15, 2003
2004	Love Is Only a Feeling Permission to Land	DE95 (2 weeks) DE	-	-	UK5 (11 weeks) UK	First published: March 22, 2004
2005	One Way Ticket One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back	DE75 (6 weeks) DE	AT62 (2 weeks) AT	-	UK8 (9 weeks) UK	First published: November 14, 2005
2006	Is It Just Me? One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back	-	-	-	UK8 (4 weeks) UK	First published: February 24, 2006
	Girlfriend One Way Ticket to Hell… and Back	-	-	-	UK39 (2 weeks) UK	First published: May 22, 2006

More singles

• 2004: Friday Night
• 2012: Nothing's Gonna Stop Us
• 2012: Every Inch of You
• 2012: Everybody Have a Good Time
• 2013: With a Woman
• 2013: The Horn
• 2013: Keep Me Hangin 'On
• 2015: Open Fire
• 2015: Barbarian
• 2015: Last of Our Kind
• 2015: I Am Santa
• 2017: All the Pretty Girls
• 2017: Solid Gold
• 2017: Southern Trains
• 2017: Happiness

swell

1. ↑ Stone Gods Temple Unofficial website
2. ↑ ^{a b} Chart sources: Singles Albums DE UK
3. ↑ ^{a b} UK US gold / platinum database

Web links

• Official website
• The Darkness at laut.de
• The Darkness at Allmusic (English)
• The Darkness at Discogs (English)