The Lightyears
OriginLondon, England, UK
GenresPop rock, rock, progressive rock, power pop
Years active2003 - present
LabelsIndependent
MembersGeorge Owens
Chris Russell
John Owens
Tony Lyons
Websitehttp://www.thelightyears.com

The Lightyears are an English four-piece pop-rock band based in London, England, comprising George Owens (lead vocals and guitar), Chris Russell (vocals and piano), John Owens (bass) and Tony Lyons (vocals and drums). Though The Lightyears formed in 2003, Russell and Owens have been playing and writing together since the age of 13.[1]

Philadelphia-based radio station WXPN have described the band as "the bastard pop-child of The La's and Wham!".[2]

Awards and achievements

In 2007, The Lightyears won "Best Pop/Rock Act" at the first-ever INDY Awards ceremony at the Clapham Grand, which prompted the London Metro to write that they were "being widely touted as Next Big Things".[3] The band were nominated again the following year, this time for "Best Pop Act".[4] In light of these accolades, the record producer Hugh Padgham asked the band into his studio to record a selection of tracks.[5] Two of these recordings, "Emily" and "Sleepless", feature on The Lightyears' 2009 album London, England.

Press

BBC Oxford have called the band "incredibly talented",[1] and South African rugby player Robbie Fleck, interviewed at CapeTownTens.com, described The Lightyears' headline show in Cape Town as "without doubt the best party I have ever been to in my life".[6] In the US, PlayPhilly.com wrote "I haven't been this excited about British pop since I discovered The Beatles. The Lightyears, simply put, are incredible".[7]

Tours and appearances

The Lightyears have toured to the US, South Korea, Thailand, South Africa and mainland Europe.[5] They played Glastonbury Festival in both 2007 and 2008[8] and have supported acts such as Mystery Jets[9] and The Levellers.[10] In September 2009, the band performed at Wembley Stadium to a crowd of 45,000 people. They appeared on the same bill as Diversity, winners of Britain's Got Talent.[11] Three further performances at Wembley were to follow, supporting acts such as Right Said Fred and Eliza Doolittle.

In November 2009, The Lightyears appeared in a national advertising campaign for T-Mobile. Chris and George wrote a song for the campaign (in collaboration with Josh's Band) called "Come With Me", which was released in January 2010 on Universal Records.[12]

In March 2011, The Lightyears were invited to perform at The Script's headline show at O2 Arena, appearing in the O2 blueroom.[13]

In October 2012, the band travelled to Gothenburg, Sweden, to perform with Roger Daltrey from The Who and Roger Taylor from Queen.[14]

Lightyears novel

In 2009, Chris Russell began work on his debut novel Mockstars, inspired by the story of how The Lightyears got together.[15] He was signed to leading literary agency Johnson & Alcock in November 2013,[16] and Mockstars was published the following summer by Red Button Publishing.[17] Russell has since begun work on a trilogy of teen novels entitled "Songs About A Girl", in which an ordinary teenage girl is invited to take backstage photos for the world's hottest boy band. The trilogy was bought by Hodder Children's in 2015, and has sold in multiple territories worldwide.[18]

Discography

Albums

  • Mission Creep (December 2005)
  • London, England (January 2009)

EPs

  • "The Last Men On Earth" (January 2003)
  • "Rumour Going Round" (August 2004)
  • "Phoenix" (July 2006)
  • "At Midnight" (September 2008)

References

  1. 1 2 "BBC - Oxford Music - The Lightyears Review". BBC Oxford. 6 April 2004. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  2. ↑ "The Lightyears". Some Velvet Blog. 9 February 2006. Archived from the original on 27 October 2006. Retrieved 1 March 2009.
  3. ↑ "Indy Stars Shine at Awards". Metro.co.uk. 17 May 2007. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  4. ↑ "Lightyears ahead". Getreading.co.uk. 21 February 2008. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  5. 1 2 "The Lightyears to Headline at CT Tens". Capetowntens.com. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Fleck: Thank You Cape Town". Capetowntens.com. 12 February 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  7. ↑ "PlayPhilly.com - Hot Sheet". Playphilly.com. 3 July 2009. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  8. ↑ "BBC Berkshire". Bbc.co.uk. 30 June 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  9. ↑ "Mystery Jets to play intimate London show". Nme.com. 14 August 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  10. ↑ "Local Band Feature: The Lightyears". Bbc.co.uk. 1 December 2008. Retrieved 21 March 2009.
  11. ↑ "Sarries make history with Wembley win". Hemeltoday.co.uk. 14 September 2009. Retrieved 28 September 2009.
  12. ↑ "Band featured in TV advert for phone firm". Henleystandard.co.uk. 5 January 2010. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  13. ↑ "Lightyears go from Wembley to memorial hall for charity bash". Windsorexpress.co.uk. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  14. ↑ "Jamey's House of Music is the Philadelphia region's premiere intimate live concert venue, restaurant and bar". Jameyshouseofmusic.com. Retrieved 13 June 2020.
  15. ↑ "The Fourth Meal". Content.yudu.com. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "Chris Lightyear signs to top literary agent". Thelightyears.com. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 30 November 2013.
  17. ↑ "Mockstars by Christopher Russell". Redbuttonpublishing.net. 18 April 2014. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  18. ↑ "Hodder signs three with musician Chris Russell". Thebookseller.com. 1 April 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2015.
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