2009–2012: Early career and breakthrough The band was formed in late 2009 and was earlier known as the Groves but they later changed their name to "Lawson" when David Lawson performed life-saving brain surgery on the lead singer
Andy Brown. and the Ultrasound Festival. On 8 September 2011, it was announced that the band had been signed to
Polydor Records, with a lucrative two-album deal on the cards. After signing to a major label, Lawson were tasked with opening for acts such as
the Wanted,
Will Young,
Avril Lavigne, and
Jessie J. The band toured extensively at the beginning of 2012, fitting in a headline tour of the UK in January and another in May as well as a one-off intimate show at Monto Water Rats in London which was streamed worldwide in April. During this time, the band worked on material for their debut album with writers and producers such as
Carl Falk and
John Shanks.
2012–2013: Chapman Square The band's first official single, "
When She Was Mine", was released in May 2012 and reached number four on the
UK Singles Chart. Following the single release, the band undertook their second headline tour, selling out venues in
London,
Glasgow,
Manchester,
Leeds,
Nottingham,
Sheffield and
Birmingham. The band's second single, "
Taking Over Me", was released on in August 2012, peaking at number three in the UK. In the summer of 2012, Lawson performed at
T in the Park, V Festival and alongside
Bruce Springsteen at Hard Rock Calling. They also announced a Hometown Tour, playing dates from October through November in their respective home towns and London, where they reside now. In October 2012, the band released their third official single, "
Standing in the Dark", which reached number six in the UK. The band later revealed that their debut album,
Chapman Square, would be released on 22 October. Guitarist
Joel Peat said of the album: "We're all so excited to release our debut album, we've been building up to it for the past four years, and the album's title for us is special, because it is the first place that we played together as a band. Going out on tour to support the album is amazing too. Doing shows in our home towns feels like the perfect way to celebrate. Performing live is what we love the most, so to be able to play our biggest venues to date in the cities where we grew up is very special." Lawson cited many inspirations for their debut album, including
John Mayer and
Taylor Swift. On 22 October 2012, Lawson released
Chapman Square, peaking at number four on the
UK Albums Chart. The album was later certified gold. The band finished the year performing at the
Oxford Street Christmas Lights switch on with
Robbie Williams and at the Capital FM Jingle Bell Ball. In February, they embarked on the
Chapman Square tour, playing 18 sold-out shows in the UK and Ireland. While working on new tracks for the repack of
Chapman Square, they visited
Southeast Asia and Australia as well as announcing numerous festival dates including
T in the Park,
V Festival and
Hard Rock Calling for the second year running and the
Isle of Wight Festival for the first time.
2013: Chapman Square – Chapter II "
Brokenhearted", featuring American rapper
B.o.B, was released as the lead single from the repackaged version of
Chapman Square in July 2013, reaching number six in the UK. B.o.B flew over to the UK to perform "Brokenhearted" with the band at
Wembley Stadium for the
Capital FM Summertime Ball. The band announced their second single, "
Juliet", while on tour in the US for the second time in 2013. The track was released on 13 October 2013. British model and actress
Kelly Brook stars as the titular character in the video. The band were included in the line-up of the
iTunes Festival 2013, opening for
Jessie J. Lawson began their biggest headline tour to date, the Everywhere We Go Tour, in September 2013. The repackaged version of their debut album titled
Chapman Square – Chapter II was released on 21 October 2013. The reissue featured all twelve of the songs from the standard edition of
Chapman Square (though not the full sixteen of the deluxe edition), plus six new songs. The deluxe edition of
Chapman Square – Chapter II includes a second disc including acoustic songs and a short tour film. In December 2013, an official mobile trivia game was launched for the band by
SoshiGames of
Birmingham, UK. The game tests the player's knowledge of the band, the members and their music.
2014–2015: "Roads" and Lawson EP In 2014, according to the updates on Facebook by Ryan Fletcher, he wrote "Lawson have been in
Iceland to do a photo shoot for their new album, and maybe to film a video... More news soon!". On 2 February 2015, Lawson announced via Twitter that their first gig (after releasing the new album) would be in
Leeds on 2 May 2015. On 10 March 2015, Lawson announced the name of the lead single of their second album, "
Roads" after being played for the first time on in-demand radio. Lawson then released a lyric video to "Roads" to their YouTube channel. "Roads" was released on 24 May 2015. The band also announced that their album would be titled
Perspective, and stated it was due to be released sometime in 2015. This was delayed after band member Andy Brown was taken to hospital with liver failure.
Perspective was released on 8 July 2016. In October, Lawson released a self-titled
extended play globally, except in the US and Asia. It included the singles "
Roads" and "
Under the Sun". The Australia/New Zealand release of
Lawson coincided with their support of
Robbie Williams' Australia and New Zealand tour, and features the four tracks from deluxe version of
Chapman Square, which was not released in Australia.
2016: Perspective On Twitter in January 2016, Lawson announced that their single "
Money" was issued on 29 January 2016. Lawson also announced a video for the single. The music video for "Money" was released on 4 February 2016 before the single was released on 18 March 2016. Lawson also announced the release of their second album for the summer of 2016. The name of the album was officially revealed in May 2016 on the band's Twitter as
Perspective, and was released on 8 July 2016. Following the release of the album, Lawson were dropped from their joint record deal with
Polydor and Global.
2017–present: Cedarmont and CMD Z Brown announced he signed a major deal with
Decca and would be releasing a solo
country album. He released a comment on his social media saying the band has not split; he was just using his time to focus on the solo album. Brown also announced in May 2017 that he and his wife were expecting a baby. On 30 October 2017, they both welcomed their son, Knox Orlando Brown into the world. On 14 December 2018, his debut album
Cedarmont was released. On 6 April 2020, the band announced that they had been signed to the record label
Cooking Vinyl. On 17 April 2020, the band released "Lovers", their first single after their 4-year hiatus. On 2 July 2021, Lawson released their third album
CMD Z. ==Members==