Courteeners are an English band formed in Middleton, Greater Manchester, in 2006 by Liam Fray, Michael Campbell, and Mark Cuppello, with Daniel "Conan" Moores joining shortly after to replace the band's initial guitarist.; Mark Cuppello was replaced by the band's producer Joe Cross in 2015. They previously toured with pianist Adam Payne, who has been featured on every album, but in 2019 was replaced with Elina Lin. In December 2012, the band dropped "The" from their name, continuing simply as "Courteeners". In 2024, Cross and Lin became official members of the band.
They have released seven studio albums: St. Jude (2008), Falcon (2010), Anna (2013), Concrete Love (2014), Mapping the Rendezvous (2016), More. Again. Forever. (2020) and Pink Cactus Café (2024). Furthermore, the band has released several EPs and two DVD albums.
All the music and lyrics for the Courteeners' songs are written by the band's frontman Liam Fray. He says all of the songs he has written are about personal experiences.
History 2006–2007: Formation The original band members have known each other since they were ten years old, all of them being from Middleton; Liam Fray and Daniel Moores attended Cardinal Langley Roman Catholic High School in Middleton, while Mark Cuppello attended St Monica's RC High School in Prestwich and Michael Campbell attended St Cuthbert's RC High School in Rochdale.
At first Fray studied business studies at university, however soon realised it was a lot harder than he thought and not what he wanted to do. Therefore, he chose to study creative writing as he enjoyed writing poetry and short stories, but not reading. While at the University of Salford (studying creative writing), Fray started performing acoustic sets as a singer-songwriter around bars and at open-mic nights in Manchester. After getting positive reactions from the crowd, Fray decided to leave university and form a band. He recruited long-time friend and neighbour Michael Campbell, who had never played the drums before. Prior to the finalisation of the classic lineup, a guitarist named Andrew (Drew) joined the group alongside bassist Mark Cuppello, before being replaced by rhythm guitarist Daniel "Conan" Moores.
Their first gig was at the Manchester Roadhouse in October 2006, and the band went from strength to strength in Manchester, largely through a word-of-mouth following brought on by extensive gigging and television publicity. The Courteeners released their debut single "Cavorting," on August 6, 2007, by Loog Records. A second single, 'Acrylic' was released on 22 October 2007 reaching number 44 in the UK chart.
2007–2009: St. Jude
The Courteeners were approached by producer, Stephen Street of The Smiths, Blur and Morrissey fame about the possibility of working together. They first released a single "What Took You So Long?" on 14 January 2008, a song which reached No. 20 in the United Kingdom charts. The debut album, St. Jude, was released on 7 April 2008 by Polydor Records. It was launched at Manchester's Market Street HMV store.
The album reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart, and has since gone on to achieve gold status. The album was preceded by the release of single "Not Nineteen Forever" on 31 March 2008, entering at No. 19 and becoming their highest-charting single to date. A fifth single, "No You Didn't, No You Don't" was released on 23 June 2008.
The band played to a packed out John Peel tent at the 2008 Glastonbury Festival. and played major slots at V Festival, T in the Park and other festivals across Europe. They played with Kasabian and Primal Scream at the Fuji Rock Festival in Niigata Prefecture in Japan.
"That Kiss" was released on 6 October 2008, produced again by Stephen Street. The song was released as a stand-alone track and entered the charts at number five in the Midweek Top 40.
By October 2008 the band had begun a sell out tour of major venues across the UK including two nights at Manchester Apollo and London's Shepherd's Bush Empire. A first taste of Arena shows came with their December 2008 support slot on the Stereophonics' Decade in the Sun Tour. This saw them appear at huge venues such as the Manchester Arena, London's O2 Arena and Glasgow's Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre.
December 2008 saw the band crowned inaugural winners of the Guardian's First British Album Award beating off strong competition from Glasvegas, Duffy, Adele and Noah and the Whale. The award was voted for by members of the public and the Guardian journalists. St. Jude clinched a mammoth 53% of the public vote.
In March 2009 the band made their US debut with a headline show at New York's Mercury Lounge, followed by a month touring the States as special guests of Morrissey on his 'Tour of Refusal'. Over 18 dates included appearances at New York's famous Carnegie Hall, the Dallas Palladium and Albuquerque's Sunshine Theatre. They completed their tour of America at the 2009 Coachella Festival in Indio, California, performing on the festival's main stage along with Paul McCartney, Morrissey and Franz Ferdinand. In the UK the band played the 2009 Reading and Leeds Festivals on the main stage along with Arctic Monkeys, The Prodigy and Ian Brown. They also appeared at the 2009 T in the Park Festival as second headliners in the King Tut's Wah Wah Tent.
2009–2012: Falcon The band's second album Falcon was released on 22 February 2010 and has since gone on to achieve gold status. The album was preceded by a single "You Overdid It Doll" on 15 February 2010. The album was recorded at ICP Studios in Belgium and produced by Ed Buller (White Lies, Pulp, Suede). The album was well received by the British music press with NME awarding the album 8/10 and both Mojo & Q Magazines giving the album 4-star reviews. In Falcon'''s first week it entered the top 10 in 6th place.
Many songs from the band's second album including "The Opener", "You Overdid It Doll" and "Take Over the World" made their live debuts at two UK shows in December 2009. The first at Warrington's Parr Hall was followed by a sold-out headline homecoming show at the 10,000-capacity Manchester Central (formerly known as Manchester GMEX). Tickets for the show sold out within a week.
The first song released from the album was "Cross My Heart and Hope To Fly", making its radio debut on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show as his Hottest Record in the World. The track was released as a free download through their official website on 7 December 2009 as well as a seven-inch version with a B-side.Falcons first official single "You Overdid It Doll" was released a week before the album's release on 15 February 2010. This also saw its radio debut on BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe show. Lowe, a big supporter throughout the band's career, once again made it his Hottest Record in the World. The single was added to daytime radio playlists including BBC Radio One, XFM, and BBC 6 Music. A UK Tour to coincide with the album's release was announced in December 2009. The tour included dates at London's Brixton Academy, Blackburn's King George's Hall and Blackpool's Empress Ballroom.
The band appeared at many festivals during the summer of 2010, including on the Other Stage at 2010 Glastonbury Festival on Friday 25 June 2010. On Sunday 13 June 2010 the band appeared on the main stage at the Isle of Wight Festival. The performed on the main stage ahead of Paul McCartney's headline appearance that evening. In July 2010 the band returned to the T in the Park festival, appearing on the Saturday evening on the Radio 1/NME Stage. In August 2010, the Courteeners announced a five-date UK tour to take place in December. The tour included the band's largest-ever headline gig at the Manchester Arena. The band returned to Japan at the beginning of August 2010, appearing in Tokyo and Osaka at the Summersonic 2010 festival. In August 2010 the band made their second appearance at V Festival, performing on the 4 music stage.
On 5 November 2010, the Courteeners announced a 5-song EP on their official website which include 2 songs from Falcon, "Lullaby" and "Scratch Your Name Upon My Lips". There are two brand new songs "Three Months" and "Swear Down" plus a cover version of Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Zero". The EP was released on 5 December 2010. The band performed a sell-out tour of the UK in December 2010 which included the band's biggest headline show to date up until their sold-out 25,000 gig at Heaton Park in June 2015.
On 17 December 2010, the band announced a headline show at Delamere Forest, scheduled for 2 July 2011. The show sold out in 38 minutes, a record for shows performed in the forest. David Barrow, booker for the Forestry Commission said, "Following their triumphant MEN Arena show last weekend I knew we would comfortably sell out, but 38 minutes is a forest record, so it's official the Courteeners are the fastest selling forest act we have had since the gigs kicked off 11 years ago. The previous record was held by JLS last year".
During the 2011 summer festival season they appeared at Isle of Wight Festival and the V Festival. They also played a headline show at Haigh Hall, Wigan in June of that year with support from The Coral and Cherry Ghost. In December the band played three sold-out shows at the Manchester Apollo followed by the DVD Live at the MEN Arena, which featured the band's December 2010 show at the Manchester Arena. In 2012, the band played at the Reading and Leeds Festivals, Scotland's 'T in the Park' and the Chester Rocks Festival.
On 23 June 2012, the band played a free show in Manchester's Albert Square in the shadow of the town hall. The gig was to celebrate the Olympic torch coming to Manchester for the London 2012 Olympics. The band played their first-ever show in Istanbul, Turkey on 16 November 2012. On 7 December 2012 the band played a sold-out show at the 16,000-capacity Manchester Arena.
2013–2014: Anna Their third album Anna, recorded with Hurts producer Joe Cross, was released on 4 February 2013. It preceded by the release of the first single, "Lose Control" in December 2012 when the band introduced themselves as "Courteeners", dropping "The" from their name. On 6 February 2013 it was announced that Anna was Number 1 in the Official midweek UK Chart by the Official UK Charts Company. Sales slipped as the week progressed, and the album charted at Number 6.
In support of the album the band embarked on a UK and European "Anna Tour" with 22 shows in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, France, Austria, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Tour began on 21 February and ended on 27 April.
On 28 June 2013 they played at the Glastonbury Festival on the John Peel Stage. They played 13 songs and the performance was their fourth appearance at the festival. The band supported The Stone Roses at their reunion gig in London's Finsbury Park on 7 June 2013 and Kings of Leon at Glasgow's Bellahouston Park on 15 August 2013. They also performed at the Belsonic, Benicàssim, T in the Park, V festivals and headlined Mallorca Rocks closing party.
On 5 and 6 July 2013 Courteeners played at Castlefield Bowl, Deansgate, Manchester with support acts including The Strypes, Miles Kane and The Heartbreaks. All 16,000 tickets were sold out in a day.
In December 2013, the band toured the UK once again culminating in their 3rd headline appearance at the 16,000 capacity Manchester Arena.
2014–2016: Concrete Love