Hozier

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally as Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter.

His music primarily draws from folk, soul and blues, often using religious and literary themes and a political or social justice stance.

Andrew John Hozier-Byrne was born on 17 March 1990 in County Wicklow, the son of Raine Hozier-Byrne, an artist, and John Byrne, a local blues drummer who had a day job working at a bank.

He began writing songs at the age of 15.

He taught himself guitar and sang in his school choir.

He was educated at Delgany National School.

His parents were raised Catholics but converted to Quakers.

Despite this, he later attended the Catholic St. Gerard's School before studying music education at Trinity College Dublin.

He missed exams to record demos for a music label and was refused a year's deferral by the college.

While at Trinity, Hozier became involved with the Trinity Orchestra.

He was a member of and toured with the choral ensemble Anúna from 2007 to 2012 and appeared as a soloist on their 2014 release Illuminations singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras".

Hozier played at the Oxegen 2009 and Oxegen 2010 festivals.

In 2012, Hozier was a backup singer for Billy Ocean.

His debut single, "Take Me to Church" (2013), became a rock radio hit in the U.S., peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, and has been certified multi-platinum in several countries.

Hozier wrote the song "Take Me to Church" in 2013 in between playing open mic nights in Dublin; the rough demo resulted in him signing with indie label Rubyworks Records.

Hozier released his debut extended play, also called Take Me to Church, on 3 July 2013.

It appeared on the Billboard 200.

He initially recorded track demos in his attic studio before working on the record with producer Rob Kirwan.

The titular single was released in September 2013.

The music video, alluding to themes of homophobia, was released that same month, having been created on a "shoestring budget" and filmed entirely in black-and-white.

The video was shared by English actor Stephen Fry, which helped it reach the front page of Reddit and subsequently become a viral video.

The song scored top-five chart positions and multi-platinum certifications; the song also garnered critical acclaim for its lyricism and messaging.

The EP's concluding track, "Cherry Wine", appeared in Zach Braff's movie Wish I Was Here, chosen for its "heartbreaking lyrics and poetry".

It was later performed on the Late Late Show.

His eponymous debut studio album (2014) has been certified 6× platinum in Ireland and multi-platinum in several other countries.

In March 2014, Hozier released his second EP, From Eden.

Hozier released his eponymous album, Hozier, on 19 September 2014, including tracks from his first two extended-play albums (EPs).

The album drew inspiration from folk, R&B and blues music.

Hozier met critical success; Helen Brown of The Daily Telegraph noted that it was "an intense, youthful lyrical tangling of religion and romantic obsession that regularly finds him poised 'between love and abuse'".

Hozier peaked at number one in Ireland and finished second on the US Billboard 200.

The album is certified 2× platinum in the UK and US.

After the release of "Take Me to Church", the record released five singles released from 2014 to 2016: "From Eden", "Sedated", "Work Song", Someone New", "Jackie and Wilson" and "Cherry Wine", which all appeared on the Irish Singles Chart. The music videos for "From Eden" "Someone New" and "Cherry Wine" featured actresses Katie McGrath, Natalie Dormer and Saoirse Ronan, respectively. In October 2014, he made his U.S. debut, performing "Take Me to Church" and "Angel of Small Death" on Saturday Night Live. In December 2014, he performed "Take Me to Church" at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

In February 2015, "Take Me to Church" was nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year.

At the awards show, he performed the song with Annie Lennox.

He also performed it at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards in May 2015.

On 12 November 2015, he won the VH1 Artist of the Year, a fan-voted award.

At the ceremony, he performed "Take Me to Church" and The Beatles' "Blackbird" with singer Tori Kelly.

In June 2016, Hozier released the song "Better Love" as part of the Legend of Tarzan soundtrack.

His EP Nina Cried Power (2018), which featured the title track as a single, reached number one on the Billboard Adult Alternative Songs chart.

His second album, Wasteland, Baby! (2019), debuted atop the Irish Albums Chart and the Billboard 200, and was certified gold in the U.S. His third studio album, Unreal Unearth (2023), was released on Rubyworks Records, and debuted at number one on the Irish and UK charts.