Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson
Brett Anderson performing at Union Chapel in 2012
Background information
Birth name	Brett Lewis Anderson
Born	(1967-09-29) 29 September 1967 (age 49) Lindfield, Sussex, England
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, glam rock, Britpop
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, piano, guitar
Years active	1989–present
Labels	Drowned in Sound, B A Songs
Associated acts	Suede, The Tears
Website	brettanderson.co.uk

Brett Lewis Anderson (born 29 September 1967) is an English singer-songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Suede. After Suede disbanded in 2003, he briefly fronted The Tears, and has released four solo albums. Anderson is known for his distinctive wide ranging voice and during Suede's early days, an androgynous style. Suede reformed in 2010.

Anderson was born and grew up in Lindfield, Sussex, a village two miles east of Haywards Heath. His mother was an artist and a dressmaker; his father was a taxi driver who Anderson described as an "obsessive classical-music fan." He attended Lindfield Junior School, then Oathall Comprehensive School, then Haywards Heath Sixth Form College.

In his teens, Anderson played guitar for garage bands such as The Pigs and Geoff, the latter featuring future Suede bassist Mat Osman. In the late 1980s, while a student at the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College, London, Anderson and Osman formed Suede with Anderson's girlfriend, Justine Frischmann, soon recruiting guitarist Bernard Butler through an advertisement in the NME. After they had received temporary percussional help from former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, in 1991 Simon Gilbert joined as their official drummer. It was around this time that Frischmann left Anderson for Blur frontman Damon Albarn, which created an early rift in the burgeoning Britpop scene of the early 1990s. After missing too many rehearsals and flaunting her relationship with Albarn while still living with Anderson, Frischmann was fired from the group, going on to front Elastica.