I Believe In A Thing Called Love
Justin Hawkins
Justin David Hawkins (March 17, 1975) is an English musician and songwriter, best known for being the former lead singer and lead guitarist of The Darkness, mainly due to his high pitched squeals and glittery cat suits.
Growing up in Lowestoft, Hawkins studied at Kirkley High School (notably the venue for the second series of Channel 4's Rock School programme), although he left part-way through his A Levels to study Music Technology at Huddersfield Technical College.
Hawkins developed his love of rock music while playing with the now obsolete heavy metal band The Commander, who are credited on The Darkness' debut album ''Permission to Land''. He considered himself a lead guitarist until his brother Dan, rhythm guitarist in The Darkness, saw him performing an interpretative mime to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody", whereupon they realized his potential as a front man.
Hawkins also worked created jingles, his most famous being an IKEA advert, of which the payment was used to record The Darkness' ground-breaking debut album, ''Permission to Land''. The album became a multi-platinum seller, and the band shot to fame - touring all over Europe and America. The pressure mounted as many anticipated the 2nd album, ''One Way Ticket To Hell and Back'', released in November of 2005.
In 2005, Justin set up a solo project, called British Whale. His debut single, "This Town Ain't Big Enough for Both of Us", a cover of the 1974 hit by Sparks, was released on August 15th and reached number six on the UK Singles Chart.
In August 2006 it was reported that Justin Hawkins had been admitted to The Priory, a rehabilitation clinic. On October 11 2006 Hawkins revealed spending £150,000 in three years on cocaine after cracking the charts in 2003 with their single "I Believe in a Thing Called Love", following which he quit the band.
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In 2007, Justin revealed his new band – Hot Leg, who are currently playing festivals around the UK. Earlier this year, Justin Hawkins lent high pitched voice to the track "Party All Day (Fuck All Night)" appearing on the latest Steel Panther release, "Feel The Steel".
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