The 1975 are an English rock band originating from Manchester. The group consists of Matthew "Matty" Healy, Adam Hann, Ross MacDonald, and George Daniel.
The band's origins trace to them attending Wilmslow High School and playing together as teenagers in 2002. Gigs organised by a council worker led the band to formally sign as The 1975. Their choice of name was inspired by a Jack Kerouac beat poetry book. They eventually signed a record deal after their success with Dirty Hit and Polydor Records.
Following the release of four EPs, their self-titled debut album was released on 2 September 2013, topping the UK Albums Chart on 8 September 2013. Their second album I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, released on 26 February 2016, also topped both the UK Chart and the US Billboard 200. In 2017, the band won the Brit Award for Best British Group. In April that year, the band also confirmed their third album Music for Cars, which references their third EP. It is scheduled to be released in 2018.
The 1975 is mainly labeled as a pop band. Scott Kerr of AllMusic wrote that the band combined "the dark and youthful themes of sex, love, and fear with ethereal alt-rock music." Healy specifically cites Talking Heads, My Bloody Valentine, and Michael Jackson as musical influences; he states that his greatest influence is the oeuvre of filmmaker John Hughes. For their second album, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, Healy cited D'Angelo, Roberta Flack, Boards of Canada and Sigur Rós as inspirations, saying that they're "a post-modern pop band that references a million things. I don't even know what my band is half the time." Their "melancholic" black and white visual aesthetic is juxtaposed with major keys and what the band calls "classic pop sensibilities." Critics at Pitchfork have favourably compared them to The Big Pink. Sex EP was described by Paste as "equal parts ethereal and synth pop", with "haunting" and "smooth" vocals. Their "mellow", stripped down style was praised for its lack of "attention-grabbing production theatrics."
The 1975 has been described as electropop, funk rock, indie pop, indie rock, pop, pop rock and rock. I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It has been described as indie rock and pop.
Healy has stated that their influence is "heavily rooted" in Black American music.
The band has won 5 awards - Worst Band at NME Awards in 2014, Best Album for I Like It When You Sleep,
for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It at Q Awards in 2016, Radio 1 Live Lounge Performance of the Year for cover of One Direction's
"What Makes You Beautiful" at BBC Music Awards in 2016, Best Live Band at NME Awards in 2017 and British Group at BRIT Awards in 2017.
The following video is the acceptance speech at BRIT Awards from 2017.