Arcade Fire facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Arcade Fire
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Arcade Fire performing live in 2017
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
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| Years active | 2001–present |
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| Members |
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Arcade Fire is a popular Canadian indie rock band. They are from Montreal, Quebec. The main members are husband and wife Win Butler and Régine Chassagne. Other key members include Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury, and Jeremy Gara. The band often tours with Sarah Neufeld and other talented musicians. Composer and violinist Owen Pallett has also helped with all their studio albums.
Win Butler and Josh Deu started the band in 2001. Arcade Fire became famous in 2004 with their first album, Funeral. Critics loved this album. Their second album, Neon Bible, won awards like the 2008 Juno Award for Alternative Album of the Year. In 2010, their third album, The Suburbs, was a huge success. It won the 2011 Grammy for Album of the Year. This is a very big award in music.
Arcade Fire released Reflektor in 2013. They also created music for the movie Her. Band members Will Butler and Owen Pallett were nominated for an Oscar for this music. Their fifth album, Everything Now, came out in 2017. Their most recent album, We, was released in 2022. All their studio albums have been nominated for a Grammy award. Many music critics think Funeral is one of the best albums of the 2000s.
Arcade Fire plays many different kinds of music. Their style is called indie rock, art rock, dance-rock, and baroque pop. The band members play many instruments. These include guitar, drums, bass guitar, piano, violin, and accordion. They often switch instruments during their live shows.
Contents
History
Early Years: 2001–2003
Win Butler and Josh Deu formed Arcade Fire in Montreal around 2001. They first met in high school. Their musical ideas grew while they were in college. They met Régine Chassagne, a music student, and asked her to join. Early members included Tim Kile, Myles Broscoe, Dane Mills, and Brendan Reed. In 2001, the band recorded a Christmas album called A Very Arcade Xmas. They gave it to friends as a gift.
In 2002, the band went to Butler's family farm in Maine. They recorded their first EP there. Myles Broscoe left the band after this recording. Richard Reed Parry joined the band around this time. Joshua Deu also left to focus on his studies. In 2003, the band had a show in Montreal. During the show, Butler and Reed had a disagreement, and Reed left the band on stage. Dane Mills also decided to leave. To keep playing, Butler's brother Will Butler and Tim Kingsbury joined the band. They then promoted their self-titled EP. This EP was later re-released after the band became famous.
Howard Bilerman joined as drummer in 2003. The band started playing shows and recording their first album, Funeral. Their live shows were so promising that they signed with Merge Records. This happened before their first year together was even over. Win Butler once said the band's name came from a story someone told him about a fire in an arcade. He believed the story at the time.
Funeral Album: 2004–2006
Funeral was released in September 2004 in Canada. It came out in February 2005 in Great Britain. The album's name refers to family members of the band who passed away during its recording. These events created a serious mood for songs like "Une année sans lumière" and "Haïti."
The album was highly praised by critics. It appeared on many "best of" lists for 2004 and 2005. Websites like Metacritic noted it was one of the most acclaimed albums of the 2000s. Rolling Stone magazine ranked it highly on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
Funeral sold very well for an independent album. By November 2005, it had sold over half a million copies worldwide. It became Merge Records' best-selling album ever.
The band initially booked small venues for their 2004 tour. But interest grew quickly, and they played much larger shows. The tour continued into 2005 across North America, Europe, and Japan. They also played at major festivals like Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival and Lollapalooza.
Arcade Fire was featured on the cover of Time's Canadian edition in April 2005. In September 2005, the band performed with David Bowie on a TV special. They played their song "Wake Up" and also joined Bowie for his songs. These live recordings were later available online. The song "Wake Up" became very popular. It was used in advertisements and played before U2 concerts. The National Football League also used it for commercials during the 2010 Super Bowl. The band donated all money from this to charity.
Funeral and the song "Cold Wind" were nominated for Grammy awards. In April 2006, Arcade Fire won the Juno Award for Songwriters Of The Year. This was for three songs from Funeral. The band also received three BRIT Awards nominations.
Neon Bible Album: 2006–2010
After their Funeral tour, the band bought an old church in Quebec. They spent early 2006 turning it into a recording studio. This is where they recorded their next album, Neon Bible.
The first song released from Neon Bible was "Intervention" in December 2006. Money from this song went to a charity called Partners in Health. The album was officially released in March 2007. Neon Bible quickly reached number one on the Canadian and Irish album charts. It also hit number two in the US and UK. Critics loved the album, with some calling it a strong contender for album of the year.
Arcade Fire performed on Saturday Night Live in February 2007. During the show, Win Butler broke his guitar. He had written a Haitian saying on it: "An empty sack cannot stand up." This was a nod to the struggles in Haiti, Régine Chassagne's home country.
In July 2007, Neon Bible was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. The band chose not to include a song on the prize's compilation album. The Neon Bible tour continued through 2007 and into 2008. They toured Australia and New Zealand for the first time. The band decided to donate $1 from every ticket sold to Partners in Health.
Win Butler supported Barack Obama in 2008. Arcade Fire played free concerts for Obama's campaign. In January 2009, they performed at an event for Obama's campaign staff. Butler thanked President Obama for his plans to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay.
A re-recorded version of "Wake Up" was used for the trailer of the movie Where the Wild Things Are in 2009. The band donated the money from this to Partners In Health.
The Suburbs Album: 2010–2012
In May 2010, Arcade Fire announced their new album, The Suburbs. It was released in August 2010. Markus Dravs, who worked on Neon Bible, produced this album. The album was released with eight different cover designs.
The band played songs from the new album at festivals like Oxegen 2010 and Reading and Leeds Festivals. In July 2010, Arcade Fire streamed their concert at Madison Square Garden live on YouTube. Director Terry Gilliam directed the video. The Suburbs received great reviews, just like their previous albums. It debuted at number one in the US, UK, and Canada.
In August 2010, Arcade Fire and Google released an interactive music video for "We Used to Wait." Viewers could enter their childhood address, and the video would change based on that location. This showed off new internet technology.
The Suburbs won many awards. It won Album of the Year at the 2011 Grammy Awards. It also won Best International Album at the 2011 BRIT Awards. At the 2011 Juno Awards, it won Album of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year. The album also won the Polaris Music Prize for best Canadian album in 2011.
In March 2011, Arcade Fire won Group of the Year and Songwriter of the Year at the Juno Awards. In April 2011, a deluxe version of The Suburbs was released. It included a short film called Scenes from the Suburbs, directed by Spike Jonze. It also had two new songs.
In May 2012, Arcade Fire performed on Saturday Night Live with Mick Jagger. The band wore red squares to support the 2012 Quebec student protests. Arcade Fire also wrote a song called "Abraham's Daughter" for The Hunger Games movie soundtrack. They also helped create the movie's original music, including the "Horn of Plenty" anthem.
Reflektor Album: 2013–2015
Arcade Fire announced they would release their fourth album in late 2013. They worked with producers Markus Dravs and James Murphy. The album was set to be released on October 28, 2013.
The band recorded the album in different studios. In August 2013, rumors spread that the album would be called Reflektor. This was because of street art using the name. Arcade Fire later confirmed this. They released a short music clip on Spotify called "9pm 9/9" under the album name Reflektor.
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Famous rock musician David Bowie sang backing vocals on the title song, "Reflektor." He had praised the song's quality. Reflektor received good reviews and sold well. It was named one of the best albums of the decade so far by Pitchfork.
Arcade Fire was the musical guest on Saturday Night Live in September 2013. They also had a special TV show on NBC called Arcade Fire in Here Comes the Night Time. Many famous people made guest appearances in the special. The band performed live at the YouTube Music Awards in November 2013.
At the 2014 Juno Awards, Reflektor won Album of the Year and Alternative Album of the Year. The album was also nominated for the 2014 Polaris Music Prize. In 2015, Arcade Fire received the International Achievement Award at the SOCAN Awards.
A documentary film about making the album, The Reflektor Tapes, was released in September 2015. It showed at the 2015 Toronto Film Festival. A deluxe version of the album with unreleased songs came out the next day.
Everything Now Album: 2016–2019
In May 2016, Win Butler and Régine Chassagne played a surprise show outside the Louvre museum. They played a new song there. In July, Tim Kingsbury said the band's fifth album would be out in 2017. In January 2017, the band released a new song called "I Give You Power." It featured singer Mavis Staples. Money from this song was donated to the American Civil Liberties Union.
Arcade Fire signed a new record deal with Columbia Records in May 2017. On May 31, they released a new single, "Everything Now." They also performed at the Primavera Sound Festival. A day later, Arcade Fire announced their fifth studio album, Everything Now, which was released on July 28, 2017. The song "Everything Now" became their first single to reach number one on a Billboard chart.
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In March 2018, the band released a short film called "Money + Love." It featured two of their songs. On March 17, Arcade Fire performed on Saturday Night Live for the fifth time. For the 2019 Disney movie, Dumbo, Arcade Fire sang an end-credits version of "Baby Mine."
We Album: 2020–Present
In October 2020, Win Butler said the band had been writing for their sixth album. He wrote many songs during the COVID-19 lockdown. In April 2021, the band released a 45-minute instrumental piece. It was called “Memories of the Age of Anxiety” and was released on a meditation app.
In March 2022, fans received postcards with the band's logo. These hinted at a new album. On March 14, the band announced a new song, "The Lightning I, II." It was released on March 17. That same day, the band played a concert to help Ukraine relief efforts. They played more shows in New York City for the same cause.
On March 17, 2022, Arcade Fire announced their new album would be titled We. It was released on May 6, 2022. Soon after, Will Butler announced he had left the band in 2021.
After We was released, Arcade Fire announced their "WE" Tour. This was their first world tour since 2018. They performed on Saturday Night Live again in May 2022. In November 2022, Arcade Fire was announced as a headliner for festivals in Lisbon and Málaga in 2023. They also headlined festivals in 2024, including Lollapalooza in South America.
Helping Others
Haiti
Régine Chassagne's family is from Haiti. Arcade Fire often supports the people of Haiti. They help raise awareness about the country's challenges. They also highlight its history, including a difficult period under François Duvalier. Their song "Haiti" talks about this time.
- 2004: Arcade Fire played two shows in Haiti. All profits went to a hospital there.
- 2005–present: The band donates money from every tour ticket sold to Partners In Health and Kanpe.
- 2006: Money from their song "Intervention" went to Partners in Health.
- 2009: Arcade Fire recorded "Lenin" for a charity album. This helped raise money for AIDS charities, with a large part going to Partners in Health.
- 2010: The NFL used "Wake Up" for the Super Bowl XLIV. All proceeds went to Partners in Health.
- AF ♥ Haiti campaign: This campaign trained many volunteers. They helped fans learn about Partners in Health's work.
Members
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Win Butler
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Régine Chassagne
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Richard Reed Parry
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Tim Kingsbury
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Current members
Current touring musicians
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Former members
Former touring musicians
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Timeline
Discography
Studio albums
- Funeral (2004)
- Neon Bible (2007)
- The Suburbs (2010)
- Reflektor (2013)
- Everything Now (2017)
- We (2022)
Tours
Headlining
- Funeral Tour (2003–2005)
- Neon Bible Tour (2007–2008)
- The Suburbs Tour (2010–2011)
- Reflektor Tour (2013–2014)
- Post-Reflektor Tour (2016)
- Infinite Content Tour (2017–2018)
- Everything Now Continued (2018)
- The "WE" Tour (2022–2024)
- Real Fun (2024)
See Also
In Spanish: Arcade Fire para niños
- List of awards and nominations received by Arcade Fire
- Canadian rock
