The indie rock (also neo-punk) band Arctic Monkeys can be classified in the same circles as other well-known bands such as Pink Floyd and Oasis.
The Monkeys rose to become one of the most popular and biggest bands of the new millennium with just one self-released album in 2005.
The group's meteoric rise to international prominence brought the group very early achievements in their career that helped them reach number one on the international singles chart.
When the band first started, fans helped spread Arctic Monkeys demo songs through various online message boards. This led to the growth of a loyal fan base. Arktik's amazing rise as an indie band to watch would never have happened without their extraordinary fan base and viral buzz online.
This is where the band started to create one of the best selling debut albums the UK has ever seen.
Although in the UK the competition was world class stronger than them, like The Bee Gees, Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin and David Bowie, not all of them were able to achieve such success as quickly as the Arctic Monkeys.
In my opinion, quite good results, as for a group that was created from friends of the suburbs after school. Today, the Arctic Monkeys are still one of the best-selling rock bands of this century and certainly one of the best in the UK.
WHO ARE THE ARCTIC MONKEYS?
The Arctic Monkeys, like most rock bands before, had incredibly humble beginnings. In 2002, a group of friends decided to create their own musical group. It consisted of four members: Jamie Cookie (guitar), Matt Helders (drums, vocals), Andy Nicholson and Alex Turner (vocals, guitar).
Nicholson left the band in 2006, citing that he did not see his development in the band, but was replaced by Nick O'Malley (bass) who became a regular.
AM was one of the first bands to start their career online, proactively using the social networking site MySpace to promote their music and communicate directly with fans and share their concert information.
Before the band wrote any songs, they had already decided that they would be called the Arctic Monkeys, a name James Cook came up with, though none of the band members can remember exactly why. The guys have been friends since childhood, and were school friends in Sheffield, England.
Lineup of the Arctic Monkeys
Alex Turner - soloist and guitarist He is 33 years old and was born on January 6, 1986 in Sheffield. He saw the poet John Cooper Clark perform on the Boardwalk stage in Sheffield while working as a bartender and it was this performance that greatly influenced Artik's style.
Drummer Matt Helders 33 years old, he was born on May 7, 1986. He has been friends with Turner since the age of seven and grew up in Sheffield.
guitar player Jamie Cook born July 8, 1985, aged 33, he was a childhood neighbor of Alex Turner.
The band's bassist is Nick O'Malley. He was born on July 5, 1985 and is 33 years old. He joined the band as a replacement for Andy Nicholson in 2006.
ACHIEVEMENTS
The band's beginnings began with Alex Turner and Jamie Cook, who both received guitars for Christmas in 2001. The duo soon outgrew a larger group and they began recording CD-R demos.
In a short time, the quartet built a cult following, they became popular with the audience and began their performances, which created the perfect platform for them to release demo material.
The band handed out CD-R demos to fans at their shows, and soon their growing fan base began to distribute the songs on various message boards, becoming their gateway to success.
Three months after releasing their first limited edition recordings, Arctic Monkeys made their London debut in February 2005. The same year the band got another opportunity to play at the Reading and Leeds Festival and although they were placed at a low level, they were able to garner an even bigger fan base from a huge audience.
Their performance at the festival generated snorts from the media, which helped popularize the Arctic Monkeys even more. In October, the band sold out the London Astoria just 6 months after the band started playing, and in November, the band's debut single "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor" hit number one in the UK.
Arctic Monkeys' debut album, Whatever People Say I Am, That is What I'm Not, hit the top of the charts and became the best-selling debut album in British history. In the first week alone, this album sold more than the rest of the top 20 albums combined; it sold over 360 copies in its first week. The second single from the album, "When the Sun Goes Down", also hit number one in the UK.
In April 2006 Arctic Monkeys released an album titled "Who the Fuck Are Arctic Monkeys?". After bassist Nicholson left the band and was replaced by Nick O'Malley, Arctic's new line-up released "Leave Before the Lights On On" in August. Arctic Monkeys' second album -Favorite Worst Nightmare- was released in April 2007 and, unsurprisingly, went to number one in the UK and number 7 in America.
The band continued to tour around the world and presented new material from the albums to the public, as well as touring various locations in Wellington and Auckland. Later that year, lead singer/songwriter Alex Turner made his first two-man project with Rascals singer Miles Kane and two called "The Last Shadow Puppets".
In August 2009 Arctic Monkeys released their third album and was announced as The Last Shadow Puppets single. The following albums followed in the following years: At the Apollo (live album), Humbug (released in August 2009), Suck It and See (released in the spring of 2011 after a collaboration with James Ford) and Entitled (released in the summer of 2013).
In 2012 Arctic Monkeys played at the London Summer Olympics opening ceremony performing "I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor".
After AM's fifth album was released, it debuted at number 1 on the UK album charts and managed to sell over 157 copies in its first week. Because of this, the Arctic Monkeys made history and became the label's first independent band with five consecutive number 000 albums in the UK.
As a result, the band was nominated for a third time for the Mercury Prize, and after touring to support the album, the Arctic Monkeys took a short break, which allowed each of the members to pursue solo projects. In early 2018, Arctic Monkey appeared at the Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, sounding much softer than their fans are used to.
