Fran Healy | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Healy inMadrid, Spain, October 2007 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Francis Healy |
| Also known as | Fran[1] |
| Born | (1973-07-23)23 July 1973 (age 51)[1] Stafford,Staffordshire, England |
| Origin | Glasgow, Scotland[2] |
| Genres | Rock[2] |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, musician[1] |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards, banjo[1] |
| Years active | 1990–present[1] |
| Website | https://www.travisonline.com |
Francis Healy (born 23 July 1973)[1] is a British musician.[2] He is the lead singer and lyricist of the bandTravis, having written nearly all of the songs on their first six studio albums along with their ninth and tenth, with the seventh and eighth containing material written by other members of the band.[4] Healy released his debut solo album, titledWreckorder, in October 2010.[1]
Born inStafford, England, Healy grew up inGlasgow, Scotland, his mother's home town.[2] His mother had moved back to Scotland after divorcing her husband. Healy has said that both his mother and his grandmother were major influences on him.[2] Healy attendedHolyrood Secondary School in Glasgow.
Healy during his childhood also achieved a Black Belt ranking inShotokan Karate.[5]
As a young child at primary school, he was awarded a book ofRobert Burns poems and a certificate "For Outstanding Singing Abilities" after singing the old Scottish song "Westering Home" while dressed in a kilt. However, Healy showed no further interest in singing until his teens. His obsession with songwriting began to take shape when he got his first guitar in 1986 at the age of 13, having seenRoy Orbison perform his hit "Pretty Woman" onThe Last Resort with Jonathan Ross. First songs played on the guitar were old rock'n'roll numbers like "Johnny B. Goode" and "Three Steps to Heaven" byEddie Cochran. His first complete song was written about the headmaster of his school, Peter Mullen, entitled "Mr. Mullen Blues", with a sample lyric: "...and there was Pete Mullen, with his pie and beans. It was then I smelled it, it filled the room. Then some wee bugger lit a match and the whole place went Ka-BOOM... Where's your tie boy? Pick up that can. Get in line girl, do you understand... Cause his name is big Pete Mullen... And he's a man". Healy performed it at the school talent show but failed to move the judges. He played in several school bands and played in front of an audience for the first time in 1989 atHolyrood Secondary School when he was in 5th year.
In 1991,Neil Primrose, the drummer of Glasgow band Glass Onion, asked Healy if he would like to audition for the band; their previous singer, Catherine Maxwell, had just left the band. Healy joined the band on the same day he enrolled at theGlasgow School of Art. This band soon changed their name to Travis, named after the main character in theWim Wenders filmParis, Texas.
Travis' first single, "All I Want to Do Is Rock", was written by Healy while on a visit toMillport on GreatCumbrae, a small island in theFirth of Clyde. Going there with the sole intention of composing the best song he had written, Healy surprised himself when the track was created. In spite of Healy's success as a songwriter since, he is without formal musical training. As the band has risen to prominence, Healy has continued to beTravis' main songwriter, as well as the band's main spokesman and most recognisable member.
Travis has twice been awarded British album of the year at the annualBRIT Awards, and is credited as having paved the way for post-Britpop British bands such asColdplay andKeane. Travis have released nine studio albums, beginning withGood Feeling in 1997.
Although Healy predominantly plays guitar, he has also been known to write and perform with piano. In 2000, he appeared onThe Clint Boon Experience single "Do What You Do (Earworm Song)", reaching number 63 in the UK charts. Boon described this song as his "masterpiece".
In 2010 Healy released the solo albumWreckorder, which featuredPaul McCartney on bass andNeko Case. He co-wrote the song "Here With Me" fromThe Killers' 2012 albumBattle Born.
In 2015 Healy was invited to joinBanquet, a supergroup initiated byEric Pulido ofMidlake as "a poor man'sTraveling Wilburys" consisting of musicians that he admired. Besides Healy and Pulido, the band also includedAlex Kapranos ofFranz Ferdinand,Ben Bridwell fromBand of Horses andGrandaddy'sJason Lytle, along with Pulido's Midlake band matesJesse Chandler,Joey McClellan andMcKenzie Smith. Among the non-Midlake members, Healy was one of only two – along with Lytle – who traveled toDenton, Texas for recording sessions, with the rest contributing remotely.[6] After changing the spelling of the band's name to avoid confusion with another group, BNQT released their debut albumVolume 1 on April 28, 2017, to which Healy and the other vocalists each contributed two songs.[7]
In interviews, Healy has talked of being influenced by songwriters such asJoni Mitchell,Paul McCartney andGraham Nash (ofThe Hollies andCrosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame). Healy has since played with both McCartney and Nash.
Healy is a part of the movementMake Poverty History and has, alongside his band, played at theLive 8 concerts in bothLondon andEdinburgh. He participated inBand Aid 20's re-recording of "Do They Know It's Christmas?", with Healy and friendNigel Godrich also playing roles in its organisation.
He has so far made two trips toSudan with theSave the Children organisation, for which he launched the biggest ever global campaign[8] to help the ten million children who die unnecessarily each year to survive.
Healy has also taken part in and been a speaker at severalanti-war demonstrations against theIraq War.[9][10]
As of 2024, Healy currently resides in Los Angeles having moved there in 2017 with his wife Nora Kryst and son Clay.[2] They had previously lived inBerlin[11] to be closer to Kryst's mother and raise Clay.[2]
Healy proposed to German photographer and make-up artist Kryst in October 2000 atHoover Dam while on tour with Travis.[12] Their son Clay was born on March 10, 2006.[13] Healy and Kryst married in 2008,[14] and relocated to Berlin as they felt it was a better environment in which to raise their child compared to London.[15]
Healy and Kryst split up in 2019, but it was not made public until 2024 when Healy was promoting Travis' then-new tenth albumL.A. Times. Healy's band mates were also initially unaware of the break-up, even though several songs addressed it on their previous album10 Songs. The song "Live It All Again", which was originally written for10 Songs but wasn't released until it was included onL.A. Times, also refers to Healy and Kryst's separation.[16] Four years since splitting up, Healy and Kryst are yet to divorce.[17]
In January 2008, it was announced that Healy would curate a new talent compilation forPaul McCartney'sLiverpool Institute for Performing Arts.[18]
In 2010, as a way to thank Paul McCartney for playing on his solo album, Healy and his wife becamevegetarian. McCartney is a long-time advocate of vegetarianism.[19]
Healy was a member of the Glasgow athletics club Bellahouston Harriers in his youth, and took part in the Berlin Relay Marathon in 2012.[20]
At the2005 general election, Healy was reported to be a supporter of theLiberal Democrats.[21] In a 2013 interview, speaking of an earlier interview in which he appeared to criticiseAlex Salmond, he said "I certainly came across as pro-Labour but the truth is I'm not pro-anyone."[22]
Studio albums
Featured singles
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