Mumford & Sons are a British pop rock band from London, formed in 2007. Mumford & Sons have released three studio albums: Sigh No More (2009), Babel (2012) and Wilder Mind (2015). Sigh No More peaked at number two on the UK Albums Chart and the Billboard 200 in the US, with Babel and Wilder Mind both debuting at number one in the UK and US, the former becoming the fastest-selling rock album of the decade and leading to a headline performance at Glastonbury Festival in 2013. They have also issued two live albums: Live at Shepherd’s Bush Empire (2011) and The Road to Red Rocks (2012).In their first performance on US network television, the band played “Little Lion Man” on CBS’s Late Show with David Letterman in February 2010.
The band has won a number of music awards throughout their career, with Sigh No More earning the band the Brit Award for Best British Album in 2011 and six overall Grammy Award nominations. The live performance at the 2011 Grammy Awards ceremony with Bob Dylan and The Avett Brothers led to a surge in popularity for the band in America. US sales for Sigh No More increased by 99% in the period following the ceremony. Babel (2012) debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200. It became the fastest selling album of 2012 in the UK, selling over 158,000 copies in its first week, and was the biggest selling debut of any album in 2012 in the US, selling 600,000 in its first week, and over a million worldwide. Babel also won the Grammy for Album of the Year and the Brit Award for Best British Group in 2013.
The band began by using bluegrass and folk instrumentation, with the core instruments of acoustic guitar, banjo, piano and a double bass, played with a rhythmic style based in alternative rock and folk. Emmylou Harris said of them, “It started with the ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ soundtrack … That eventually led them to the Old Crow Medicine Show and then deep immersion in old-timey sounds from America’s long-neglected past.” Mumford acknowledges that “the band inspired them to pick up the banjo and start their now famous country nights in London.”
In January 2015 they announced a headline performance at the 2015 Bonnaroo Music Festival. They are headlining The Reading & Leeds Festivals as part of their current UK & Ireland tour. Wilder Mind (2015) debuted at number one in the UK, the US, Australia and most major markets. For Record Store Day in April 2015, the band released the coordinates of stores where fans could attend to listen to Wilder Mind in full on vinyl record, over two weeks before its release. The band also released a limited edition 7″ record of “Believe”/”The Wolf” for the event.
In March 2016, the band will play their first ever shows in South America (Colombia, Brazil, Argentina and Chile) as part of Lollapalooza.
Members:
Marcus Mumford (lead vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, drums)
Ben Lovett (vocals, keyboard, piano, synthesizer)
Winston Marshall (vocals, electric guitar, banjo)
Ted Dwane (vocals, bass guitar, double bass)
Website: www.mumfordandsons.com/
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