Jarvis Cocker facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jarvis Cocker
|
|
|---|---|
_(53082349174)_(cropped).jpg)
Cocker in 2023
|
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Jarvis Branson Cocker |
| Born | 19 September 1963 Sheffield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Genres |
|
| Occupation(s) |
|
| Instruments |
|
| Years active | 1978–present |
Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is a famous English singer and musician. He is best known as the leader, singer, and songwriter for the band Pulp. Pulp became very popular in the mid-1990s during the Britpop music era. Jarvis has also had a successful solo music career. For seven years, he hosted his own radio show called Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service on BBC Radio 6 Music.
Contents
Early Life and Family
Jarvis Cocker was born in Sheffield, England. He grew up in the Intake area of the city and went to City School. When Jarvis was seven, his father, Mac Cocker, who was a DJ, moved to Australia. Jarvis and his sister, Saskia, were raised by their mother, Christine Connolly. She later became a local politician.
Jarvis has said that growing up mostly with women helped him understand how women think. He even wrote a song called "A Little Soul" about his father leaving. In 1998, Jarvis and his sister traveled to Australia to meet their father for the first time in almost 30 years. His father was a radio DJ in Sydney. Jarvis said he forgave his father, who passed away in 2016.
When he was in his twenties, Jarvis lived in London. He spent some time living in an old, empty factory.
Music Career
Pulp: The Early Years
Jarvis started the band Pulp when he was just 15 years old. He was still a student at City School. The band was first called Arabicus Pulp. He got the idea for the name from an economics class. After some changes to the band members, they shortened the name to "Pulp."
Pulp became very famous in the 1990s. Their albums His 'n' Hers (1994) and Different Class (1995) were huge hits. Jarvis was the lead singer and known for his unique look, including his glasses. He kept his glasses on during his energetic performances by using a large rubber band.
Pulp released two more albums, This Is Hardcore and We Love Life. These albums were praised by critics, but they didn't sell as many copies as Different Class. The band took a break from 2003 to 2010. They started performing again in 2011.
Jarvis is also known for his clever humor and thoughts on culture. He often appeared on TV shows in the 1990s. He even hosted an art series for Channel 4 called Journeys into the Outside. In this show, he traveled the world to meet "outsider artists." These are people who create unusual and amazing art.
Brit Awards Incident (1996)
At the 1996 Brit Awards, Jarvis Cocker went onto the stage during Michael Jackson's performance. He did this as a protest. Michael Jackson was performing his song "Earth Song" with children on stage. Jarvis was questioned by the police but was later released without any charges.
People had different opinions about Jarvis's actions. Some musicians, like Noel Gallagher from Oasis, praised him. Jarvis said his actions were a protest against how Michael Jackson presented himself. He said he didn't touch anyone and was even a fan of Jackson's music.
Solo Music Projects
Jarvis: His First Solo Album
.jpg)
Jarvis Cocker's first solo album, simply called Jarvis, came out in the UK on 13 November 2006. A video for his song "Running the World" was played at the 2006 Reading festival. The video showed the lyrics like a karaoke screen, encouraging the audience to sing along.
In March 2008, Jarvis toured in Latin America. He performed a new song called "Girls Like It Too."
Further Complications: A New Sound
Jarvis mentioned he had written more songs and hoped to record another album soon. He wanted to release it before the end of 2008.
On 13 June 2008, he performed a new song called "Angela" on BBC2. His second solo album, Further Complications, was released on 18 May 2009. It was recorded by Steve Albini. Many critics felt this album was a big step forward for Jarvis.
In October 2011, a book of his song lyrics was published. It was called Mother, Brother, Lover: Selected Lyrics.
Room 29: A Hotel Story
In March 2017, Jarvis released Room 29. This album was a team-up with musician Chilly Gonzales. It was Jarvis's first album in eight years. Room 29 is a concept album about a famous Hollywood hotel called the Chateau Marmont. Jarvis stayed in room 29 during a Pulp tour in 2012. The room had a piano, which made him wonder about the stories it could tell from past guests. Each song on the album tells a different story about a possible guest. The songs explore both the exciting and sometimes disappointing parts of Hollywood life.
JARV IS...: A New Band
In late 2017, Jarvis formed a new band called "Jarv Is." The band includes Jarvis, Serafina Steer, Emma Smith, Andrew McKinney, Jason Buckle, and Adam Betts. They mostly perform live. They played new songs at festivals in 2017, 2018, and 2019. On 15 May 2019, they released their first song, "Must I Evolve?".
On 2 March 2020, Jarvis announced the band's first album, Beyond the Pale. They also released the song "House Music All Night Long." The album was first planned for May 2020, but it was released earlier on 17 July 2020.
On 21 March 2022, Jarv Is released the music for the BBC comedy-drama TV show This Is Going to Hurt.
Other Music Projects
Jarvis has worked with many other artists. In 1996, he sang a duet called "Ciao!" with Miki Berenyi. In 1997, he helped create a cover of "All Time High" for the James Bond movie Octopussy. He also helped write songs for The All Seeing I's album Pickled Eggs & Sherbet in 1999.
In 2003, he started a new band called Relaxed Muscle under the name "Darren Spooner." He also worked with Nancy Sinatra and Marianne Faithfull on their albums in 2004.
In 2005, Jarvis helped write three songs for the band The Lovers. That same year, he sang a song by Leonard Cohen for a tribute show. Jarvis also contributed to the music for Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. He wrote and performed three songs: "This Is the Night," "Do the Hippogriff," and "Magic Works." He even appeared briefly in the movie as the lead singer of the band the Weird Sisters. Other famous musicians like Jonny Greenwood and Phil Selway from Radiohead were also in the band in the film.
In 2006, Jarvis appeared on two albums: Monsieur Gainsbourg Revisited and Rogue's Gallery: Pirate Ballads, Sea Songs, and Chanteys. His song "Running the World" was played at the end of the movie Children of Men. He also helped choose songs for a two-CD music collection called The Trip. He co-wrote lyrics for the Charlotte Gainsbourg album 5:55.
In 2007, Jarvis and Beth Ditto sang a cover of "Temptation" at the NME Awards. He also helped with two songs on the French band Air's album "Pocket Symphony". Jarvis was in charge of the 2007 Meltdown Festival in London. He chose bands like Motörhead and Iggy & The Stooges to perform.
In 2009, he was in the animated movie Fantastic Mr. Fox. He sang an original song called "Fantastic Mr. Fox AKA Petey's Song." In 2010, he worked with the National Trust to create an album of sounds from famous British places. He also narrated a performance of Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf.
Jarvis sang on the song "Synchronize" by Discodeine in 2011. He also appeared in the HBO documentary Six By Sondheim. In 2014, he helped write and produce a song for Marc Almond's album The Dancing Marquis. In November 2021, he worked with Gucci Soundsystem on a song about climate change called "Let's Stick Around."
Music Videos Directed
Jarvis Cocker has also directed music videos for various artists. These include videos for Aphex Twin, Erlend Øye, and Nightmares on Wax. He also made short appearances in music videos for The Hives and Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Journeys into the Outside TV Series
Journeys into the Outside with Jarvis Cocker was a three-episode TV series shown in 1999. In the show, Jarvis traveled the world to explore different kinds of outsider art. He visited many interesting places, including:
- The Watts Towers in Los Angeles, US
- The Rock Garden of Chandigarh in India
- The Garden of Eden in the US
- The sculpture garden of Las Pozas, Mexico
- The land of Pasaquan in the US
- Ferdinand Cheval's "Le Palais idéal" in France
The series was directed by Martin Wallace, who Jarvis often worked with.
Radio and Broadcasting
.jpg)
On 3 October 1996, Jarvis co-hosted an Australian TV show called Recovery.
On 12 October 2006, a story featuring a fictional version of Jarvis Cocker was broadcast on BBC Radio 2. On 31 December 2008, Jarvis was a guest editor for the Today show on BBC Radio 4. He also appeared on the BBC's Question Time in July 2009.
In October 2009, BBC Radio 6 Music announced that Jarvis would host his own show, Jarvis Cocker's Sunday Service, starting on 10 January 2010. He said he wanted to bring back the "boringness" to Sundays. Jarvis won an award for his radio show in 2010.
In January 2011, he appeared on a Radio 4 show called "In Search of the Holy Whale." In 2012, Jarvis started another award-winning Radio 4 show called Wireless Nights. This show explored stories about people who are active at night. The first episode won a prize for its originality.
In 2014, Jarvis took a break from his radio show. He arranged for Iggy Pop to host it while he was away. He explained that he needed a break, like a field needs to rest to stay fertile.
In 2015, Jarvis was part of the Proms music festival. He presented the Wireless Nights Prom with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra.
In December 2017, Jarvis presented his last Sunday Service program for the BBC. He said it wasn't a final goodbye, but a farewell.
Acting Roles
Jarvis has also acted in films. He appeared in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) as Myron Wagtail, the lead singer of the Weird Sisters. He also played himself in the 2007 romantic comedy, The Good Night.
Director Wes Anderson is a fan of Jarvis's work. This led to Jarvis voicing the character Petey in Anderson's 2009 stop-motion movie Fantastic Mr. Fox. Petey sings an original song, and his look is based on Jarvis himself. Jarvis also voiced a French pop singer in Anderson's 2021 film The French Dispatch. In 2022, Jarvis did more voice work for a stop-motion film called The House. He played a rat character called "Developer" and wrote and performed the closing song. In 2023, he appeared on screen as a musical cowboy in Wes Anderson's Asteroid City. He also played multiple roles in Anderson's The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.
Writing and Journalism
In June 2011, Jarvis was a guest editor for the poetry section of The Mays Anthology. This book collects new writing from students at Oxford and Cambridge.
In 2014, he worked as an Editor-at-Large for the publisher Faber and Faber. He helped publish a book called Singing from the Floor. Jarvis said he likes to write about "the little things that stick in your mind."
Jarvis has also written articles for The Guardian newspaper.
In 2022, Jarvis published a book about his life called Good Pop, Bad Pop. In the book, he looks back at his younger years while cleaning out his attic. Critics described the book as "terrific."
Personal Life
In November 1985, soon after his band signed a record deal, Jarvis had an accident. He fell out of a window while trying to act like Spider-Man to impress a girl. He ended up in the hospital and needed a wheelchair for a while. He even performed concerts in his wheelchair.
In 1988, when he was 25, Jarvis took a break from Pulp to study Fine Art and Film at Saint Martin's School of Art. He graduated in 1991.
Jarvis lived in Paris from 2003 with his wife, Camille Bidault-Waddington, and their son. In April 2009, they announced they were separating. Jarvis stayed in Paris to be close to his son. He had lived in Paris before in the early 1990s, where he wrote lyrics for Pulp's album His 'n' Hers. However, he never learned to speak French well.
As of 2023, Jarvis lives in London with his wife, Kim Sion. They started dating in 2009.
Jarvis is a fan of the Sheffield Wednesday football team.
Activism
In 2010, Jarvis Cocker was named a Cultural Ambassador for Eurostar, the train service.
In 2015, Jarvis was one of the people who signed a pledge supporting Artists For Palestine, a group of artists working for peace in the Middle East. In 2016, Jarvis supported the campaign for the UK to remain in the European Union.
Discography
- Jarvis (2006)
- Further Complications (2009)
- Room 29 (with Chilly Gonzales) (2017)
- Beyond the Pale (with Jarv Is) (2020)
- Chansons d'Ennui Tip-Top (2021)
- This Is Going to Hurt (Original Soundtrack) (with Jarv Is) (2022)
See also
In Spanish: Jarvis Cocker para niños
