2002–2011: Formation In 2002, at
Wilmslow High School, guitarist Adam Hann recruited
Matty Healy to be the drummer in a band he was forming with bassist Ross MacDonald. Hann wanted to start a band because a local council worker had begun organising gigs for teenagers and he wanted to play at one. When the band's prospective singer, Elliott Williams (now of
Editors), dropped out after one rehearsal, Healy took over vocal duties, playing double duty as lead vocalist and drummer. Daniel describes his first impression of Healy as "the most outwardly passionate person in school—endearing, and intimidating." The quartet began as a band playing covers of punk and emo songs at school and at Healy's house before eventually writing their own material. They played gigs and recorded their own music while working as delivery boys at a local
Chinese restaurant. Before settling on the name
The 1975, the band performed under several names, including Me and You Versus Them, Those 1975s, Forever Drawing Six, Talkhouse, the Slowdown and Bigsleep. They were also known as Drive Like I Do before adopting their current name in 2012. Healy recounted that the final name was inspired by scribblings found on the back page of the book
On the Road by
Jack Kerouac.
2012–2014: Early career and self-titled debut album The band's self-titled debut album was recorded with
Mike Crossey. Between autumn 2012 and spring 2013, during which time the album was recorded, the band released four
EPs. They toured to support and build momentum for the album, including numerous gigs and special appearances with other artists. The album received positive reviews from critics, and topped the
UK Albums Chart on 8 September. As of March 2016, it had sold 410,981 copies in the UK, and 390,000 copies in the US. Critics at
Pitchfork have favourably compared them to
the Big Pink. The release of the band's first EP, titled
Facedown, in August 2012 saw the band's first UK airplay on national radio with lead track "
The City", which was also featured as part of a
BBC Introducing show with
Huw Stephens on
BBC Radio 1. The 1975 once again garnered national radio attention in late 2012, with BBC Radio 1 DJ
Zane Lowe championing their single "
Sex" from the
eponymous EP, which was released on 19 November. Upon the release of
Music for Cars on 4 March 2013, the 1975 found mainstream chart success with "
Chocolate", reaching number 19 in the
UK Singles Chart. On 20 May 2013 the band released
IV, which included a new version of "The City". The track charted in the UK and received airplay in several other countries. The 1975 toured extensively to support releases and to build hype before releasing their debut. The band supported
Muse on the second leg of
The 2nd Law World Tour at the
Emirates Stadium in
London on 26 May 2013. They also toured with
the Neighbourhood in the United States in June 2013, and supported
the Rolling Stones in
Hyde Park on 13 July. In August, the band performed on the Festival Republic Stage at
2013 Reading and Leeds Festivals. Their self-titled debut,
The 1975, was released on 2 September 2013, co-produced by
Mike Crossey, known for his work with
Arctic Monkeys and
Foals. The lead single was a re-worked "Sex", which was released on 26 August 2013. The song premiered on
Zane Lowe's
BBC Radio 1 show on 8 July 2013, and a music video premiered on
YouTube on 26 July.
The 1975 debuted at number one on the
UK Albums Chart. Public reaction to the band's music has been mixed, particularly on social media platforms like
Twitter, "perhaps the last public space for unfettered music criticism in an increasingly anti-critical landscape", according to
Vice magazine's Larry Fitzmaurice in 2016. In an essay on the critical response, he said they have been "the Most Hated and Loved Band in the World" and described "as underrated
and overhyped, although the needle has far more often swung towards the former direction". Veteran rock critic
Robert Christgau said he thinks "they suck" and should not be called a "rock band" as they do not "rock". In Fitzmaurice's opinion, the band's debut album was mainly a straightforward rock album recorded "with a soft-focus and especially British sensibility", while
I Like It When You Sleep was only rock music in the loosest sense of the word. Overall, he said their music is pop "in the realm of Alternative", most comparable to
INXS. and at
iTunes Festival on 8 September as an opening act for indie electronic quartet
Bastille. The band undertook a North American tour in October 2013, a European tour for November, and in January 2014 the band performed in New Zealand and Australia. In September 2013, the band performed three sold-out shows at London's
Shepherd's Bush Empire. In April 2014, the band performed for the first time in a major American music and arts festival:
Coachella. The band played at
Royal Albert Hall the same month. In May, the band's recorded output was distributed digitally while they were touring North America. Healy noted that the band had recording scheduled in Q2 2015.
2015–2017: I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It On 1 June 2015, the band's social accounts were terminated, which caused intense speculation. A comic strip was posted on Healy's
Twitter a day prior but was later posted on their manager's (Jamie Oborne) account, which suggested the band's break-up. The next day, the accounts were reinstated, but the cover images and profile photos were white and light pink, instead of the usual
black and white, revealing it to be a publicity stunt. On 8 October, the band announced their second album,
I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. They premiered the lead single, "
Love Me", simultaneously scheduling a support tour in Europe, North America, and Asia. They premiered the second single, "
UGH!", on 10 December on Beats 1. The album's third single, "
The Sound" debuted on
BBC Radio 1 on 14 January 2016. The 1975 released the fourth single "
Somebody Else" on 15 February on Beats 1 before the album's release. "A Change of Heart" premiered on Radio 1 on 22 February, four days prior to the album's release.
NME, who had previously been highly critical of the band, praised the album for its scope and ambition, writing that "Any record that burrows as deep into your psyche as ‘I Like It…' should be considered essential. It's hugely clever and wryly funny, too." They later named it their Album of the Year for 2016. Although music journalist
Alexis Petridis noted that parts of the album were over-ambitious, he went on to claim that "incredibly, though, most of the time Healy gets away with it. That's sometimes because his observations are sharp — as a skewering of celebrity squad culture, 'you look famous, let's be friends / And portray we possess something important / And do the things we like' is pretty acute — but more usually because they come loaded with witty self-awareness and deprecation: the endless depictions of vacuous, coke-numbed girls he has met would get wearying were it not for the fact that he keeps turning the lyrical crosshair on himself." In a more mixed review,
Rolling Stone criticised tracks like "Lostmyhead" and "Please Be Naked" for being "boring-melty" but praised songs such as "Somebody Else", "Loving Someone" and "Love Me". The album was released on 26 February and topped the UK Albums Chart and the US
Billboard 200. It was shortlisted for the 2016
Mercury Music Prize and nominated for Album of the Year at the 2017
Brit Awards.
2017–2019: A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships On 13 November 2016, member
George Daniel teased the band's third album by releasing a video on his
Instagram account captioned "2018", containing snippets of audio along with Healy playing the keyboards. On 3 April 2017, Healy tweeted "I like it when you sleep is coming to an end" before following up with "Music for Cars", which shares the name of their third extended play. In March 2017, the band confirmed that two songs for the new album had already been written. In June, Healy also confirmed that Drive Like I Do, one of the 1975's prior incarnations, will release a debut album as a side project 'in a few years'. In November, Healy teased the release of an EP within 2017. Besides being confirmed, the EP was delayed to 2018, with manager Jamie Oborne stating that "something" would be released instead; this was the band's debut live album,
DH00278. He also confirmed that no singles from
Music for Cars will be released in 2017, with the band confirming that something will be released on 1 June 2018. In March 2018, the band deleted many media posts across their accounts going back to July 2017, during their final show at
Latitude Festival for
I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It. On 22 April 2018, in response to a fan comment on Twitter, Oborne stated that their second album's campaign would remain for "a few more days". At the end of April, cryptic posters titled "Music for Cars" appeared in London and Manchester, containing taglines and a Dirty Hit catalogue number, DH00327, amongst a black background. Various
billboards were also spotted in the United Kingdom, having used
détournement to apply themselves over existing advertisements. The band updated their website to display a timer counting down towards 1 June at the beginning of May 2018, becoming active again on social media. Within its first hours, it was revealed to contain a hidden
zip file with four individual posters, each of the names leading to a hidden page on the website that displayed a conversation between a 'human' and a 'machine'. Over social media, the band frequently released different posters, all titled "
A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships". On 31 May 2018, the band released the single "Give Yourself a Try", after premiering as
Annie Mac's "Hottest Record in the World" on
BBC Radio 1 that same day. The album garnered almost universal praise from critics. According to review aggregator
Metacritic, the album has received a weighted score of 83 based on 29 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". However, Conrad Duncan writing for the same site gave the album a positive review, calling it "full of genuine heart, intelligence and wit".
Popmatters criticised the album as bloated and inconsistent, stating "The band's reach exceeds their grasp here, and vocalist/band leader Matt Healy's indulgences are often more tiresome than charming", while still praising it as "fascinating". Healy, in an interview for
Beats 1, said that "Music for Cars" is more of an era to release music, after renaming
Music for Cars to
A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships. It was released on 30 November 2018. The band headlined both
Radio 1's Big Weekend in
Stewart Park, Middlesbrough on 26 May 2019 and
Reading and Leeds Festival in August 2019. The album was shortlisted for the 2019
Mercury Music Prize and won the award for British Album of the Year at the
2019 Brit Awards.
2020–2021: Notes on a Conditional Form On 24 July 2019, the opening song of
Notes on a Conditional Form, titled "
The 1975", was released, featuring climate activist
Greta Thunberg, the proceeds of the song going to
Extinction Rebellion. The lead single, entitled "
People", was released on 22 August 2019. This was announced by a countdown on the band's social media accounts, including small snippets of lyrics from the song that fans could piece together. A second single, titled "
Frail State of Mind", was released on 24 October. The music video for the song was released on 30 November 2019. The next single, "Me & You Together Song", was released on 16 January 2020. On 15 February, the group did their UK tour that lasted until 3 March 2020. The tour began in Nottingham's Motor point arena, which holds a capacity of 10,000, and they ended their tour in Dublin after performing in Places such as London's O2, Manchester, Glasgow and other hit places in the UK. On 17 February 2020, the band put up a "digital detox" website called MindShowerAI which contained a countdown to their next single as well as several odd messages like “I am doing my mind and my life!” and “I feel comfort and respect." A fourth single, ‘The Birthday Party’, was released on 19 February 2020 at the end of the website's countdown. On 3 April, the band released "
Jesus Christ 2005 God Bless America", featuring guest vocals from
Phoebe Bridgers, which was followed by "
If You're Too Shy (Let Me Know)", featuring guest vocals by
FKA Twigs, on 23 April 2020. The band's fourth album,
Notes on a Conditional Form, was released on 22 May 2020. It became the band's fourth consecutive album to reach number one on the UK Albums Chart as well as reaching number one in Australia and number four in the United States. On 4 December 2020, the album became certified silver in the UK via Brits certified. Many of the band's 2020 shows which were postponed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic were ultimately cancelled. During this time, lead singer Matty Healy teased future music under the name "Drive Like I Do", and said that the band was working on their fifth studio album, although there was no indication as to when writing, recording, mixing, etc. would be complete. In February 2021,
No Rome, a
Dirty Hit labelmate, announced he was working on a track featuring the 1975 along with
Charli XCX, which would make it the second No Rome single to feature the band after 2018's "Narcissist". The track's title is "
Spinning" and was released on 4 March 2021. An EP that Healy and Daniel produced and co-wrote,
Beabadoobee's
Our Extended Play, was released in March 2021. In October 2021, Healy opened for
Phoebe Bridgers at the
Greek Theatre in
Los Angeles on her
Reunion Tour. He performed two new songs, one called "New York".
2022–2025: Being Funny in a Foreign Language On 14 February 2022, the band deactivated their main social media accounts, hinting at new material. On 1 June, the band's social media accounts were re-activated, and the beginning of a new era was signalled by a series of posts, and updates to the band's official website. In late June 2022, the first single "
Part of the Band" from their fifth album
Being Funny in a Foreign Language was teased. Postcards sent to fans revealed an album track listing, while posters of Healy in London promoted the single. The lyrics of "Part of the Band" were posted by Healy on Instagram. The song was released on 7 July. On 14 October, the album was released. On 1 October, the band appeared on
BBC Two's
Later... with Jools Holland. On 7 November 2022, the band performed a sold-out show at Madison Square Garden, which was also live-streamed on
Twitch. The show—one of the first few in their
At Their Very Best tour—was highly acclaimed with some critics praising it for its boldness, while others wrote that the band proved they really were "at their very best." It received five star reviews from the
Rolling Stone,
NME,
The Observer,
The Telegraph,
Evening Standard, and
Metro. The band was banned from performing in
Malaysia due to "controversial conduct and remarks" during their performance at the
Good Vibes Festival on 21 July 2023. This included a same-sex kiss onstage between Healy and MacDonald, and Healy openly criticising the country's strong
anti-LGBT laws. The remainder of the festival was then cancelled by local authorities. Reactions to the incident from Malaysians on social media were generally critical of Healy. Some members of the
LGBT community in Malaysia were frustrated by the incident and expressed concern it would lead to further reprisals from the
religious right. The band subsequently cancelled shows in
Taiwan and
Indonesia following the incident. In August 2023, they headlined
Reading and Leeds Festivals for the third time with a "10th Anniversary Performance" of their
self-titled debut album. Their fifth concert tour commenced in September 2023, titled
Still... At Their Very Best. It is their biggest tour to date in North America performing in arenas across the United States and Canada. In the opening show in
Sacramento, Healy has stated that after the tour, the band will have a hiatus from touring. In October 2024, two billboards themed around
Charli XCX's upcoming remix album ''
Brat and It's Completely Different but Also Still Brat'' were displayed in the band's hometown, Manchester, signifying that the band will feature on the remixed version of the song "I might say something stupid" with
Jon Hopkins. The band released their live recording,
Still... At Their Very Best (Live From The AO Arena, Manchester, 17.02.24) in March 2025.
2025-present: Dogs , with the "DOGS" text visible|225x225pxOn 6 March 2025, the band's social media accounts were updated to feature a new logo, alongside the announcement of their headlining set at
Glastonbury Festival later that year. In May 2025, manager Jamie Oborne confirmed this set would be their only concert of the year. This statement was accompanied with the news that the band were working on their sixth studio album, with Oborne stating "I don’t know when it will come out, but they’re making one." The band played on Glastonbury Festival's
Pyramid Stage on Friday, 27 June 2025. Their performance received praise with
The Guardian's
Alexis Petridis describing the band as "world-class", and their set "hugely impressive". Following the performance, fan speculation ensued due to the presence of the word "DOGS" on the bass drum of Daniel, as well as its appearance on screen after the conclusion of their set. In December 2025, Healy confirmed "DOGS" was the title of the band's upcoming studio album during an event at
Gateshead College while speaking to a fan, additionally stating "It might be one, it might be two… but yeah, we’ve made two albums." ==Musical style and influences==