Billy Bragg

Billy Bragg lyrics

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Biography

Politicised by a Tory government, Billy Bragg bought himself out of the British Army in 1981 (‘the best £175 I ever spent’), and blazed his own modest trail. It was thirty-seven years ago when the Saturday boy from Essex became the UK’s foremost political singer-songwriter. He released his first record, Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, bashed out on a punk rock electric guitar. It charted at number 30. Billy Bragg had arrived. He’d ‘risen from obscurity to semi-obscurity.’ The three-and-a-half decades since have been marked by many milestones political and personal, topping the singles chart, a street named after him, a mention in Dylan’s memoir, delivering a seminar on accountability at the Bank of England and meeting the Queen. 13 studio albums, eight compilations, four books, two box sets, numerous awards and countless international tours, the Ivor Novello winning elder statesman of today, bearded and ‘ruggedly handsome’ (according to his fans), refuses to slip into self-parody. There still ain’t no stopping him now. For every protest song (‘There Is Power in A Union’), there’s a declaration of love (‘I Will Be Your Shield). Orator, published author, entertainer, rabble-rouser, negotiator, pamphleteer, the fabled ‘big-nosed bard from Barking’ is many things. Lockdown couldn’t keep him down. Instead, he looked inwardly as well as outwardly, and joined the two together, stronger. A new album, The Million Things That Never Happened emerged, blinking back into the light.