Mark E. Smith
| Mark E. Smith | |
|---|---|
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Mark E. Smith performing in Edinburgh, 2011
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Mark Edward Smith |
| Born |
5 March 1957 Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, England |
| Genres | Post-punk, alternative rock, spoken word |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, lyricist, songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, guitar, keyboards, violin |
| Years active | 1976–present |
| Associated acts |
The Fall Von Südenfed |
Mark Edward Smith (born 5 March 1957) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the lead singer, lyricist, front man and only constant member of the post-punk group The Fall. He comes from Prestwich, outside Manchester.
Smith formed The Fall in 1978 after attending a Sex Pistols gig at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in June 1976. Although hugely talented and charismatic, Smith is famously acerbic and difficult to work with. He has been described by the BBC and others as a national treasure, a bit like the Queen. According to one writer, Smith's face "looks as if it's spent the past 40 years in a pub snug, [and] seems to be moving through its Johnny Cash phase on its way to WH Auden".
Born into a working class family in Broughton, Salford, Lancashire, England, Smith moved to nearby Prestwich early in life. In his autobiography, he claims that Alfred Henry Hook – a soldier who fought at Rorke's Drift – was an ancestor of his father, leading to the Smith family being invited as guests of honour to the Whitefield showing of the film Zulu in which Hook was played by James Booth. Originally a Labour supporter, he then joined the Socialist Workers Party.
He formed The Fall, named after the novel by Camus, with friends after dropping out of college at the age of 19. He gave up his job as a shipping clerk at Salford docks shortly after to devote his full energies to the band and has continued to do so ever since. Smith married American guitarist, and Fall band member (1983–89 and 1994–96) Brix Smith on 19 July 1983. They divorced in 1989 and he has since remarried twice. His second wife was Saffron Prior who used to work for the Fall's fan club. He married his present wife, Eleni Poulou, also called Elenor or Elena, in 2001. Poulou joined the band in September 2002 and resigned in July 2016.
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