Johnny Borrell

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Johnny Borrell
Birth name	Jonathan Edward Borrell
Born	April 4, 1980 (1980-04-04) (age 28)
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Indie rock
Occupation(s)	Musician
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals, bass
Associated acts	Razorlight The Libertines
Notable instrument(s)
Gibson L6-S Custom and Deluxe

Jonathan Edward Borrell (born 4 April 1980, in Muswell Hill, London, England) is an English singer and guitarist, and frontman of Razorlight.

Contents 1 Life and career 2 Reputation and controversy 2.1 Borrell and The Libertines 2.2 Borrell and The Kooks 2.3 Borrell and Keane 3 Trivia 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Life and career

He grew up in and around the city of London, in Muswell Hill, and attended first St. Anthony's School, Hampstead, and then Highgate School, an expensive public school, with John Hassall, former bassist of The Libertines and frontman of Yeti. He completed his A Levels in English, French and Philosophy at Fine Arts College, Belsize Park, Hampstead.^{[citation needed]} He currently resides in the Hampstead Heath area. Johnny was involved in music and the Camden scene while still at school and at 17 played bass guitar in a band called Violet, regularly gigging on the camden circuit. The band recorded an EP and started to gain some recognition before splitting acrimoniously live on stage at Dublin Castle in late 97 early 98. The title track of the EP was subsequently used in the Soundtrack of the 1998 Michael Winterbottom film 'I Want You'. After dissappearing for a while and the supposed hook up with the Libertines he went on to form a band which played house parties, rehearsing at a Hackney warehouse called Unit 13, comprising of Carl Dalemo, Christian Smith Pancorvo (Later replaced by Andy Burrows) and Björn Ågren. The band were watching a video recording of them playing a gig, and a random jam section came across with a distorted lyric of Razo light... razor light. So they adopted the name. After a string of top twenty hits including "Golden Touch", their debut album Up All Night charted at number 3 in the UK, and stop-gap single "Somewhere Else" just missed out on the number 1 spot. Their self-titled follow-up album was released July 17, 2006, and debuted at number 1 in the UK album chart, giving the band their first release to top the chart. Johnny and Razorlight scored their first UK number 1 single with "America" on the 8th of October '06.

[edit] Reputation and controversy

Borrell is notorious for his arrogant attitude towards the press and is famous for his proclamations of his own abilities.^[1] However, like many other artists who come across negatively in NME interviews, Borrell and supporters have accused the magazine of misrepresentation and emphasising quotes out of context.^[2] Interviewers have recently alluded to tension between Borrell and the two Swedish members of the band, one of whom claims Borrell spends little time with them.

[edit] Borrell and The Libertines

Borrell is one of "The Dalston Set", a clique of indie notables connected to the early days of the London scene of the early 2000s, along with Dominic Masters of The Others, Pete Doherty, Carl Barât, John Hassall, and the Queens of Noize. It has been reported that he was briefly a stand-in bassist for The Libertines before they were signed, but in recent interviews he has claimed that this is not true. In Pete Welsh's Kids in the Riot, it is alleged that Borrell was sacked as The Libertines' bassist for unreliable behaviour and not turning up to gigs^[3], but in general there is little animosity between the two bands, and Borrell remains friends with Carl Barât. The Libertines' song "The Boy Looked At Johnny" is reputedly about Borrell, and Razorlight album track "Don't Go Back To Dalston" is reputedly directed at Pete Doherty, telling him to curtail his drug habit. Another Razorlight song talking about curtailing a drug habit is "Up All Night" which is largely misinterpreted as being a love song. However, Borrell's former friend Pete Doherty headbutted him backstage at the Leeds Festival in 2005.

[edit] Borrell and The Kooks

In the May 17, 2006 issue of the NME, Borrell became embroiled in a spat with fellow NME favourites The Kooks, as a result of his remarks that their music is 'shit' and the lead singer 'boring'. In an interview with the popular music magazine NME Borrell is quoted as saying "He models his style on me. And that record is the most horrible thing I've ever heard. It sounds like the band are literally rolling over, sticking their arse in the air and begging Radio 1 to fuck them. I heard their single on the radio the other day and it sounds like fucking Avril Lavigne! If he can live with himself after that production, and if he feels like he has to slag people off to keep up, then I'm sure his nights are long and those moments of doubt are really painful. So fuck The Kooks. Fuck 'em!" [3]" implying that The Kooks had "sold out" to the commercial music industry by signing to Virgin Records and adjusting their sound to become more marketable. Ironically, Radio 1 had held a "Razorlight week" recently before that to coincide with and promote the band's second album.

[edit] Borrell and Keane

In late 2006, Tim Rice-Oxley, pianist and songwriter with Keane, declared their song "The Frog Prince" to be a criticism of Borrell.^{[citation needed]}

He dated actress Kirsten Dunst

[edit] Trivia

• In Razorlight's 2004 release Up All Night, Borrell recorded the number of the company Vice into the track "Vice." The number has been quoted as 07761-010-233, though the authenticity of this number has been disputed. In the video for the track, Borrell is seen in a phone box with adverts for prostitutes on the walls, as can be seen across many London phoneboxes. The telephone number for every advert on the wall is also 07761-010-233.

• He supports Chelsea Football Club.

• Borrell is a big fan of cricket and a member of Middlesex County Cricket Club.^[4]

• He has been romantically linked to Uruguayan-born singer Fabiola Gatti^[5] and has dated Kirsten Dunst^[6], with whom he was seen at Lord's during a 2007 cricket match between England and the West Indies.^[7].

• He has appeared twice on The Mighty Boosh, once alone as a giant rapist rabbit in the 2006 stage show and once with Razorlight in the episode "The Priest and the Beast".

• Borrell appeared on the front cover of the May 2007 issue of Vogue Magazine, alongside supermodel Natalia Vodianova, in his trademark skinny white jeans. Borrell is one of only seven men who have appeared on the cover of the British Vogue^[8].

• In 2008 Borrell and bandmate Andy Burrows appeared at the Teenage Cancer Trust comedy night at the Royal Albert Hall, hosted by Borrell's friend Noel Fielding. The two played a short acoustic set.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Razorlight official site
• Johnny Borrell at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Razorlight Johnny Borrell | Björn Ågren | Carl Dalemo | Andy Burrows Albums Up All Night | Razorlight Singles "Rock ‘N’ Roll Lies" | "Rip It Up" | "Stumble and Fall" | "Golden Touch" | "Vice" | "Somewhere Else" | "In the Morning" | "America" | "Before I Fall to Pieces" | "I Can't Stop This Feeling I've Got" | "Hold On"

Persondata
NAME	Borrell, Johnny
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	English rock singer
DATE OF BIRTH	April 4, 1980
PLACE OF BIRTH	Muswell Hill, London, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH