Adam Ant
Adam Ant | |
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![]() Ant in 2017 | |
Background information | |
Birth name | Stuart Leslie Goddard |
Born | [1] Marylebone, London, England[1] | 3 November 1954
Genres | |
Occupations |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1977–present |
Labels | |
Website | adam-ant |
Stuart Leslie Goddard (born 3 November 1954), known professionally as Adam Ant, is an English singer, musician, and actor. He gained popularity as the lead singer of new wave group Adam and the Ants and later as a solo artist, scoring 10 UK top ten hits from 1980 to 1983, including three UK No. 1 singles. He has also worked as an actor, appearing in many films and television episodes.
Ant began his musical career playing bass in the band
In 1982, he began a solo career, retaining
Since 2010, Ant has continued his music career, recording and releasing a new album Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter (2013, UK number 25), and completing eight full-length UK national tours, five US national tours, and two Australian tours. A further album, Bravest of the Brave, was recorded in 2014[3] and is still awaiting release.
Early life
Stuart Goddard was born in Marylebone, London, the only child of Leslie Alfred Goddard and Betty Kathleen Smith. His father had served in the Royal Air Force (RAF) and worked as a chauffeur, and his mother was an embroiderer for Norman Hartnell.[4]: 4 His home was two rooms in the De Walden buildings, St John's Wood.[4]: 5 He recalls: "There was no luxury, but there was always food on the table." He is of partial Romani descent; his maternal grandfather, Walter Albany Smith, was Romanichal.[4]: 10 This heritage became a basis for a theme in his later work: a concern for oppressed minorities.
Goddard's parents divorced when he was seven years old[4]: 35 and his mother supported him by working as a domestic cleaner, being briefly employed by Paul McCartney.[5] Goddard's first school was Robinsfield Infants School, where he created a considerable stir by throwing a brick through the head-teacher's office window on two consecutive days.[4]: 28 In the aftermath of this incident, Goddard was placed under the supervision of teacher Joanna Saloman, who encouraged him to develop his abilities in art and whom he later credited as the first person to show him he could be creative.[6][7]
Goddard then attended Barrow Hill Junior School where he boxed and was a member of the cricket team.
Early musical career
The first band Goddard joined was Bazooka Joe, in which he played bass guitar.[1] He has said that the idea of Adam Ant came to him after watching the Sex Pistols play their first gig opening for Bazooka Joe at Saint Martin's School of Art in 1975: "After seeing the Pistols, I wanted to do something different, be someone else, but couldn't work out what and [whom]."[4]: 92, 94
He renamed himself Adam Ant, choosing the name because "I really knew I wanted to be Adam, because Adam was the first man. Ant I chose because, if there's a nuclear explosion, the ants will survive."[9] He formed his own band, the B-Sides, with Lester Square and Andy Warren.[4]: 94 In 1977, together with drummer Paul Flanagan, they went on to form Adam and the Ants (initially named just "The Ants"), with the inaugural band meeting held in the audience at a Siouxsie and the Banshees performance at The Roxy in London's Covent Garden.[10]
Musical career
1977–1982: Adam and the Ants
Adam and the Ants began performing around London while Ant acted in
Ant approached
In November 1981, Adam & the Ants released the album,
1982–2001: Solo career
A few months after Adam and the Ants split, Ant launched his solo career and retained Pirroni as guitarist and co-songwriter.
Ant recruited a new band for touring, consisting of new dual drummers Bogdan Wiczling (ex-
During his recuperation from the knee injury, Ant worked with Pirroni on new material[4]: 214–215 that formed the basis of Ant's second solo album, Strip. With promotion on the Strip album complete, Ant reduced his band to the quartet of himself, Pirroni (now out of retirement again), Wiczling and Constantinou.[17] The latter two adopted the stage names Count Wiczling and Chris De Niro respectively and were upgraded from live backing musicians to being full-time band members, featured on record sleeves,[17] logos[18] and even in song lyrics.[19] The LP Strip produced a top ten single, "Puss'n Boots", that reached No. 5 in the UK charts in October 1983.[20] Ant formally unveiled his new four-piece band at the 1984 Montreux Pop Festival,[4]: 234
In July 1985, Ant secured a spot at the Live Aid concert – the first live performance of the "Ant/Marco/Wiczling/De Niro" band – but was asked to cut his set to one song, for which he chose his new single, the Vive Le Rock title track[21] Ant later claimed to regret playing the fundraiser, saying, "I was asked by Sir Bob to promote this concert. They had no idea they could sell it out. Then in Bob's book, he said, 'Adam was over the hill so I let him have one number.'... Doing that show was the biggest f**king mistake in the world. Knighthoods were made, Bono got it made, and it was a waste of f**king time. It was the end of rock 'n' roll."[22]
A year after the hit single success of "Apollo 9", which reached No. 13 in September 1984, the parent album Vive Le Rock was released in September 1985, to mixed reviews. As part of the promotion, the band performed a live TV session for Channel 4 music show Bliss hosted by Muriel Gray. Several songs were recorded, although only two – "Miss Thing" from the new album and "Killer in the Home" from Kings of the Wild Frontier – were actually transmitted.[23]
Ant paused his career in music at the end of 1985 to focus on his acting career.
In 1992, Nine Inch Nails released a cover of Adam & the Ants' "Physical (You're So)" on their Broken EP, originally released on the Kings of the Wild Frontier LP."[27] Subsequently in 1995, Adam Ant performed "Physical" live with Nine Inch Nails on their Self Destruct Tour for two nights in a row.
In 1995, Ant released the album, Wonderful. The title track was a successful single, as was a tour of the US in support of the album. While Ant and his group, which retained longtime guitarist Pirroni alongside Kris Dollimore (The Godfathers, The Damned), Bruce Whitkin, Dave Ruffy (The Ruts) and Dave Barbarossa (Adam and the Ants, Bow Wow Wow),[28] played in smaller venues than they had played in the 1980s, the houses were often packed with enthusiastic fans. The tour was cut short due to Ant and Pirroni both contracting glandular fever.[4]: 298 Ant also played three shows at Shepherd's Bush Empire in London and did a mini tour of Virgin Record Shops playing selected tunes from the album Wonderful and signing records. Adam and his band also played shows in Dublin, Glasgow, Middlesbrough and Stoke-on-Trent.

In 1996, Ant and Pirroni recorded two new songs, "Lamé" and "Inseminator", for the soundtrack to Ant's latest film Drop Dead Rock. Also around this time, they recorded a cover version of the
2002–2009: Autobiography
In 2003, the Channel 4 television special titled The Madness of Prince Charming[7] was aired in the UK documenting Ant's career and his struggle with mental illness (he was diagnosed as suffering with bipolar disorder).
In 2003, Ant and Wonderful collaborator,
Ant made a guest appearance on an EP released in 2005—Mike's Bikes by former Ants bassist Kevin Mooney's new band, the Lavender Pill Mob, on Mooney's own label Le Coq Musique. Ant provided lead vocals for "Black Pirates", a reworking of the song "Chicken Outlaw" by Mooney's earlier band Wide Boy Awake, inspired by Mooney's departure from the Ants.[36]
In September 2006, he published his autobiography, Stand & Deliver. Marking the release of the book, Ant did a UK book signing, which went from London to Edinburgh.[37] After the success of the first edition the paperback edition was published in September 2007, which contains a new epilogue that covers the year following the initial hardback release. As part of the promotion of the paperback, Ant performed a reading of selected passages of the book along with acoustic songs (accompanied by childhood friend Dave Pash on guitar) at the Bloomsbury Theatre, London on 24 September. A live CD of highlights of the gig, Live at the Bloomsbury was released the following year.[38][39]
2010–2012: Independent label and return to touring
![]() | This section may contain an excessive amount of intricate spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. (November 2024) ) |

On 4 March 2010, Adam Ant registered his new label Blue Black Hussar Ltd. as a private limited company at Companies House.[40] That month also marked a return to live music. Ant's first live performance since The Bloomsbury in 2007 was at Through The Looking Glass bookshop in London on 18 March, at which he played "Ants Invasion", "Cartrouble", "Physical", and a cover of Iggy Pop's "The Passenger". A day later, on 19 March, Ant guested at a Zodiac Mindwarp and the Love Reaction gig at the Pipeline Bar, London E1, in which he provided lead vocals for the band's Top 20 hit "Prime Mover".[41] Ant performed another low key show at the Southwark Playhouse on Saturday 20 March.[41] During the intervals Ant talked about Sony Records, how he rejected an alleged £2.6 million O2 deal, and a new album collaboration with Chris McCormack.[42]
Ant played a sold-out headline concert, dubbed The Pirate Metal Extravaganza at the
Ant headlined at the Scala again on 18 November,[45] joined by a trio of female backing singers. The gig received positive reviews and three days later again topped the bill at a tribute concert for former Ant Matthew Ashman on 21 November at the same venue, in a show also featuring later Ashman bands Bow Wow Wow, Chiefs of Relief, Agent Provocateur and London rock act Slam Cartel. Ant was back playing live two days later on 23 December, when he and backing vocalist Georgina Baillee guested onstage at the Christmas party of West Rocks at Shepherds Bar in Shepherd's Bush and played live again at Proud, Camden on 5 January 2011[46] and at Madame Jojo's in Soho on 17 January.[47] He finished the month by playing further dates of his World Tour of London with a two-night stand at the 100 Club on 26 and 27 January 2011.[48][49]
Ant spent time in Paris where he played low-key shows (his first gigs outside the UK in nearly 16 years.).
There was one negative onstage incident at Fat Sam's in
Ant also announced a follow-up UK tour (described as the "second leg" of the 2011 tour), initially scheduled to run for twelve dates from 11 November 2011 in
A few days before the end of the second leg of his UK tour, it was officially announced that Ant would make his return to the US with a 15-date North American tour in February 2012, starting on 2 February in Ant's former adopted hometown of Los Angeles and running until 25 February in nearby Anaheim.[47] A few days into the new year, however, it was announced that the tour was postponed until the autumn.[62] A five-date warm-up UK mini tour for Ant and his band nonetheless went ahead for 19–24 January 2012.[47]
An exhibition of photographs of Ant – titled Adam Ant – Dandy in the Underworld ran from 7 March 2012 to 29 April 2012 at Proud Camden in London, featuring images of Ant throughout his career, including the work of Chris Duffy, Gerard McNamara,
Although poor ticket sales forced the cancellation of the Adelaide gig,

Subsequently, for the second year running, Ant was scheduled to make appearances on the summer festival circuit, interspersed with various one-off dates around the UK. This got off to an early start when Ant stepped in as replacement headliner at the Bearded Theory festival in Derby on 18 May 2012, when the Levellers had to pull out due to one of the band members being injured. Ant also played the first full band concert in continental Europe of his 2010s comeback on 24 June 2012 at the Parkpop festival in the Zuiderpark in the Hague, Netherlands, with his set broadcast on Dutch national TV. After six assorted dates around the UK in early July, Ant's next major show was a headline slot at the Silverstone Classic Festival on 21 July[71] followed the next day by an appearance at Rewind in Perth and then at Camp Bestival on 27 July 2012.[72]
The rest of the summer saw Ant mix festivals such as the
2013–present: Release of new album, touring

Ant's album, the focal point of the comeback since 2010, finally received its release on 21 January 2013. Its gestation had a long history which had been running alongside the live comeback; in 2009, it was announced that Ant was planning on putting a new record out. He also expressed interest in working with
In an April 2010 interview for the NME, Ant announced he was also working on a new album, with the title Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter. This featured collaborations with former 3 Colours Red guitarist Chris McCormack, Ant's long-time songwriting partner Marco Pirroni, Morrissey's writing partner Boz Boorer and was also due to feature a member of Oasis (later identified as Andy Bell).[75] According to Ant, the album is a "live record that lends itself to performance" and will feature a "kind of concept. It's a very old-fashioned, old-school, step-by-step album". He also described the album as "very autobiographical, very personal."[76] In addition, Ant re-recorded a song in tribute to the late Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McLaren, who died earlier that month, and who also once managed Adam & The Ants. Named "Who's A Goofy Bunny Then?", the track was only previously available as a demo recorded in the early 1980s, but Ant stated he wanted to release a new version in tribute to the late punk manager. "Malcolm was a sort of mentor in my life", he said. "As close as you can get to a surrogate father". The song took its name from a term of endearment bestowed upon McLaren by Ant – referring to his "quite prominent teeth".[77]
On 31 December 2010, Ant gave an interview for The Sun (featured in the "Something for the Weekend" segment) in which he discussed in considerable detail the various controversies surrounding his recent life and musical activities. He summed up his upcoming album thus: "The Blueblack Hussar is me coming back to life. I'm like The Terminator —- I was a dead man walking".[78] He also discussed individual songs on the album — as well as "Gun in Your Pocket" (which, aside from the Troubador live performance, had also been given a club dancefloor play by Ant himself as guest DJ at the Family Affair club night in Shoreditch, London on 24 April 2010),[79] The interview in The Sun also made mention of "Shrink", a song about Ant's experiences in the mental healthcare system. Ant had previously discussed both of these songs in his April 2010 interview with Simon Price for online fanzine The Quietus.[80] On his second visit to Iain Lee's show on Absolute Radio on 4 January 2011, two further new tracks were debuted, "Hard Men, Tough Blokes" and "punkyoungirl" [sic].[81] In an interview for Bizarre magazine published that month, Ant named the song co-written with Andy Bell as "Cool Zombie".[82]
21 January 2013 release date was officially announced by Ant onstage at his September 2012 concert in

During early 2014, Ant was at work recording his next album, titled Bravest of the Brave. On 19 April, Ant performed his debut album Dirk Wears White Sox at the Hammersmith Apollo with a band including former Ants Dave Barbe and Lee Gorman, preceding this with several UK tour dates. He also reissued the Dirk album on white vinyl on his Blueblack Hussar label, with a launch party gig at the 100 Club. Both London concerts were filmed by noted film director Leigh Tarrant and later released as the DVD album Dirk Live At The Apollo. Ant subsequently performed the full album again with his regular band for four nights at the Islington Assembly Hall in November 2014 and a full UK tour in Spring 2015.[citation needed]
Jack Bond's documentary on Ant, The Blueblack Hussar, covering his life and performances from late 2010 to mid 2011, was released on DVD in July 2014 by Sunrise Pictures. Leigh Tarrant's film was released by Ant's own production company BlueBlack Hussar but has now been out of print since its initial release in late 2014 and remains a highly sought after concert release.[according to whom?] This remains Ant's last professionally filmed concert to date. Further, Tarrant's originally commissioned insider documentary White Sox which captures a candid look at Ant during his Spring 2014 UK tour is currently unreleased and awaits distribution as of 2024.
Ant toured the UK in 2016 and North America in early 2017, performing his Kings of the Wild Frontier album in its entirety. Sony Records issued a deluxe box set of the album linked to the UK leg of the tour, including a gold vinyl pressing of the album (as previously announced by Ant at the 100 Club gig in 2014). After his January 24, 2017 show in Boston, Ant's guitarist and music director, Tom Edwards, suddenly died due to suspected heart failure; he was 41.[85] After cancelling shows in New York and Philadelphia, the tour continued. Later the same year, he toured the UK and announced he would return to North America with another tour, titled Anthems: The Singles[86] in the autumn, and afterwards would be taking the Kings tour to Australia and New Zealand.
Ant announced the Friend or Foe tour, which traveled North America and the United Kingdom from September to December 2019.[87][88] He performed the album in its entirety in an 18-date tour in North America before returning to the United Kingdom for 26 shows. A further North American tour originally planned for April–May 2020 was shifted back to 2021 then 2022 as result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was eventually scrapped due to the glut of rescheduled tours, but a 19 date Antics Tour of the UK did go ahead.
In 2023, Ant was scheduled to perform at the
Musical style
The tone of Ant's debut solo album, Friend or Foe, was defined as glitzy glam pop with "tongue-in-cheek tunes, delivered with an excess of flair and good humour". It was also described as being "one of Ant's best records and one of the best new wave albums".[93]
In a review for Strip, the songs were considered to contain a "mixture of driving, danceable rock with humour".[94]
The music on Vive Le Rock has been said to be a "50s-style rock & roll sound".[95]
The fourth studio album, Manners and Physique, was said to be a combination of "contemporary dance tracks" and Ant's "old flair for mockery".[96] Ant himself later said that the album was styled after the bass heavy Minneapolis sound of which André Cymone, in Ant's words, was "one of the architects".[97]
Discography
Adam and the Ants
- Dirk Wears White Sox (1979)
- Kings of the Wild Frontier (1980)
- Prince Charming (1981)
Adam Ant
- Friend or Foe (1982)
- Strip (1983)
- Vive Le Rock (1985)
- Manners & Physique (1990)
- Persuasion (1992)
- Wonderful (1995)
- Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter (2013)
- Bravest of the Brave (tbc, recorded 2014)
Concert tours
Headlining
- Young Parisians Tour, Great Britain, January–February 1979, 15 dates including London Electric Ballroom support slot for The Lurkers
- Zerox Tour, Great Britain, July–August 1979, 17 dates plus private preview show
- Ants Invasion Tour, Great Britain May–June 1980, 15 dates plus private preview show
- Kings of the Wild Frontier Tour, Great Britain, November–December 1980, 32 dates
- Stand And Deliver Tour, worldwide, March–October 1981, 54 dates (not including April 1981 London charity show)
- Individual legs:
- Stand And Deliver UK Tour, Great Britain, March 1981, six dates
- US Ants Invasion Tour, United States and Canada, April 1981, 13 dates
- Stand And Deliver European Tour, assorted Western European nations, May–June 1981, 19 dates
- Kings Of The Wild Frontier World Tour, United States, Japan and Australia, September–October 1981, 16 dates
- Individual legs:
- The Prince Charming Revue, Great Britain, December 1981 – January 1982, 25 dates at ten venues
- Friend or Foe Tour
- Great Britain: Six dates, October–November 1982.
- United States and Canada: 83 dates, November 1982 – May 1983.
- Strip Tour United States: 60 dates, January–April 1984.
- Vive Le Rock Tour
- Spain: 1 date August 1985.
- England: 3 dates (London, Manchester, Birmingham) September 1985.
- United States and Canada: 34 dates, October–November 1985.
- Persuasion Tour United States and Mexico: 28 dates including preview show, February–March 1993.
- Wonderful Tour
- United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland: 8 dates March 1995.
- United States and Canada: 38 dates April–June 1995
- Wonderful Instore Acoustic Tour
- United States: 2 dates March 1995.
- Great Britain, 10 shows in 5 days (2 shows per day) April 1995
- The Good, The Mad And The Lovely Tour
- United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland:
- First leg: 15 dates plus preview show May–June 2011.
- "Seaside Tour": five dates June 2011.
- Second leg: 22 dates November–December 2011 plus three warmup dates October 2011
- Third leg: five dates, January 2012.
- Australia: four dates March–April 2012
- United States: 20 dates September–October 2012
- Blueblack Hussar Tour
- United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Channel Islands and Isle of Man:
- First leg: 19 dates November 2012
- Second leg: 12 dates April–May 2013
- Netherlands and Belgium: Three dates December 2012
- United States and Canada: 44 dates July–September 2013
- XII Before Dirk Tour Great Britain: five dates (reduced from scheduled titular 12) April 2014
- Dirk Wears White Sox Live Tour England: 12 dates April 2015
- Kings of the Wild Frontier Live Tour
- Great Britain: 14 dates May–June plus London Christmas show December 2016
- United States and Canada 17 dates January–February 2017
- Australia and New Zealand: six dates October 2017
- ANThems Tour
- Great Britain: 18 dates May 2017 plus London Christmas shows December 2017 (one date) and December 2018 (two dates).
- United States: 14 dates September 2017. Three postponed Florida dates rescheduled for January 2018. Ten further dates July–August 2018
- Friend Or Foe Tour
- United States and Canada: 18 dates, September–October 2019
- Great Britain: 26 dates, November–December 2019
- United States: 16 dates, April–May 2020 – postponed to 2022 due to COVID-19, cancelled due to schedule conflicts
- Antics Tour
- Great Britain: 19 dates June–September 2022 - postponed from February–March 2022
- Antmusic 2024
- United States: 36 dates, March – May 2024
- United Kingdom: 16 dates postponed from October–November 2024 to 2025 due to illness
In addition to the above, seven London concert dates between October 2010 and January 2011 were promoted as the World Tour of London. Also, seven dates in April 1978, four in London and one each in Nottingham, Liverpool and Sheffield were advertised on a handbill as being the "Dirk Wears White Socks Tour"
Residency
Marquee Club, London, England
5–26 January 1978 (four successive Thursdays)
Acting career
Ant's acting career began in 1977 when he appeared in Jubilee.[98] During the 1980s and 1990s he was living in Hollywood and pursued his acting career, taking roles in films such as Nomads,[99] Slam Dance,[100] Sunset Heat,[101] and Love Bites.[102] Ant also appeared on American television shows, including The Equalizer,[103] Sledge Hammer!,[104] Tales from the Crypt[105] and Northern Exposure[106] in which he played a rock musician.
Ant has also worked in theatre: he starred in
TV and film
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1977 | Jubilee
|
Kid | Film | [98] |
1982 | The Cannon and Ball Show | Himself | TV series 4, episode 4 | [108] |
1983 | Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever | Himself | TV special | [109] |
1985 | The Equalizer | DeGraumont | Episode: "The Lock Box" | [103] |
1986 | Honda advert with Grace Jones | Advert | ||
1986 | Nomads | Number One | Film | [99] |
1987 | Amazing Stories | Ted Hellenbeck | Episode: "Such Interesting Neighbors" | [110] |
1987 | Slam Dance | Jim Campbell | Film | [100] |
1987 | Sledge Hammer! | Lionel Dasham | TV series 2, episode 12 "Icebreaker" | [104] |
1987 | Cold Steel | Mick Duran | Film | [111] |
1988 | World Gone Wild | Derek Abernathy | Film | [112] |
1988 | Out of Time | Richard Marcus | Film | [113] |
1989 | Trust Me | James Callendar | Film | [114] |
1992 | Sunset Heat | Danny Rollins | Film; also known as Midnight Heat | [101] |
1992 | Tales from the Crypt | Pipkin | Episode: "Maniac at Large" | [105] |
1992 | Spellcaster | Diablo | Film | [115] |
1992 | Northern Exposure | Brad Bonner | Episode: "Heroes" | [106] |
1993 | Love Bites | Zachary Simms | Film | [102] |
1993 | Acting on Impulse | Eric Boggs | Film | [116] |
1995 | Drop Dead Rock | Dave Donovan | Film | [117] |
1995 | Desert Winds | Crazy Venezuelan | Film | [118] |
1995 | Cyber Bandits | Manny | Film | [119] |
1995 | Batman: The Animated Series | Bert | Voice, episode: "The Lion and the Unicorn" | [120] |
1996 | Lover's Knot | Marvell | Film | [121] |
1996 | Face Down | Derek Fry | Film for TV | [122] |
1997 | Junk | Film: short British | ||
1997 | Never Mind The Buzzcocks
|
Himself | TV series 1, episode 8 | [123] |
1999 | La Femme Nikita | Simon Crachek | Episode: "Threshold of Pain" | [124] |
1999 | The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries | Sir Charge-A-Lot | Voice, episode: "Whatever Happened to Shorty Twang?" | [125] |
1999 | Sweetwater | Todd Badham | Television film | [126] |
2003 | The Madness of Prince Charming | Himself | TV documentary, Channel 4 | [7] |
2013 | The Blueblack Hussar | Himself | Documentary on Ant's return to music in 2010–2011, directed by Jack Bond | [127] |
2014 | Never Mind the Buzzcocks | Himself | TV series 28, episode 5 | [128] |
Theatre
Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref(s) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1985 | Entertaining Mr. Sloane
|
Sloane | [4]: 257 | |
1992 | Be Bop a Lula | none | Ant was Theatrical Producer | [107] |
1993 | West | Ant rehearsed the play but did not appear on stage due to a recurring knee injury. | [4]: 292 | |
1996 | Funeral Games | Caulfield | [4]: 326 |
Literature
- Ant, Adam (2007). Stand and Deliver: The Autobiography. London: Pan Books. ISBN 978-0-330-44012-7.
Awards and nominations
Year | Nominated work | Award | Result |
---|---|---|---|
1982 | Adam and the Ants | Grammy Awards: Best New Artist[129]
|
Nominated |
Kings of the Wild Frontier | BRIT Awards: Best British Album[130]
|
Won | |
"Stand and Deliver" | Ivor Novello Awards: Songwriters of the Year[131]
|
Won | |
2008 | Adam Ant | Q Awards: Q Icon[133] | Won |
Personal life
Ant married Carol Mills in 1975 — when they were both still students at Hornsey College of Art[4]:92 — and they divorced in 1977. He dated Amanda Donohoe between 1977 and 1981, Jamie Lee Curtis in 1983 and Heather Graham in the early 1990s.[30] He featured a song about Vanity of Vanity 6, the female vocal group associated with Prince, on the Strip album. In 1997, Ant married Lorraine Gibson, a 25-year-old PR assistant for Vivienne Westwood. The ceremony took place in Dayton, Tennessee. They divided their time between Dayton and London, and on April 10, 1998, the couple had a daughter, Lily Caitlin Goddard. The couple divorced four years later, by 2002.[134]
Ant, who does not own a television, enjoys reading, particularly historical novels. He has tattoos depicting Lord Nelson's last prayer before the Battle of Trafalgar, an image of his grandfather and a quotation from Oscar Wilde: "Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes."[135]
Mental health issues
Ant has spoken candidly about his mental health issues and experiences with the effects of the illness.[7][9] In 1975, when he was living with his first wife at her parents' home in Muswell Hill, he suffered from depression and became dangerously underweight. "I just didn't eat," he has said of this period, "I wasn't attempting to slim, I was attempting to kill myself." He took an overdose of pills and, after having his stomach pumped, was sent to Colney Hatch psychiatric hospital in North London; he was diagnosed as having bipolar disorder and discharged after three months.[12] "I was totally fucked-up in the head. Things went wrong and something snapped. I just became a vegetable for three months. I couldn't talk to people. I was very ill and that was part of the reason I left college."[32]
In 2002 Ant was poised to join the 1980s-focused Here & Now tour, but was unable to do so when he was arrested and charged, after throwing a
On 18 May 2010, Ant was returned to psychiatric hospital, where he remained until mid-June, subsequently returning home under outpatient supervision. In his 31 December 2010 interview for
References
- ^ a b c Lachno, James (27 April 2011). "The rise and fall of Adam Ant". Telegraph.co.uk. Archived from the original on 8 April 2018. Retrieved 3 April 2018.
- ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Adam Ant". AllMusic. Archived from the original on 14 March 2016. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
- ^ "Adam Ant announces 'Bravest of the Brave' new album and single and gig details". 12 August 2014.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-330-44012-7.
- ^ Spears, Steve (18 July 2013). "Adam Ant interview: How Tennessee and Paul McCartney influenced the Dandy Highwayman". Tampa Bay Times; Tampabay.com. Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.
- ^ The Official Adam Ant Story, James Maw, Futura Publications 1981
- ^ a b c d e "The Madness of Prince Charming". YouTube. Channel 4 Television. 2003. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 27 October 2008.
- ^ Walker, John (1987). "Adam Ant: music + art school". Cross-Overs: Art into Pop, Pop into Art. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2012.
- ^ a b c "Adam Ant on fame, depression and infamy". BBC News. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 23 November 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ^ Antconcerts & Events list section, Antcatalogue – distributed with Kings of the Wild Frontier LP, CBS 1980
- ^ "The Independent, December 2000". The Independent. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ a b c "The rise and fall of Adam Ant". The Telegraph. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
- ^ News of Adam No.2, p.7, Arlington Press Ltd UK1982
- ^ "Official charts for artist: Adam and the Ants". Officialcharts.com. Archived from the original on 28 October 2014. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ Sleevenotes for single Desperate But Not Serious
- ^ "1983". Adam-ant.net. Archived from the original on 13 March 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
- ^ a b "We Will be Fine – Apollo 9". Adam-ant.net. Archived from the original on 12 August 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ "Apollo 9". Adam-ant.net. Archived from the original on 8 August 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2013.
- ^ "Scorpio Rising". Antlady.nl. Archived from the original on 8 December 2013. Retrieved 22 September 2014.
- ^ "ADAM ANT | full Official Chart History | Official Charts Company". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
- ^ Paphides, Peter (2 July 2005). "Sound advice". Times Online. London. Retrieved 12 September 2006.[dead link ]
- ^ "Adam Ant brands Live Aid a "mistake" and a "waste of time" and the end of 'rock n roll'". Louder Than War. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 30 August 2012. Retrieved 18 March 2013.
- ^ "1985". Adam-ant.net. Archived from the original on 28 March 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
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External links
- Official website
- Adam Ant discography at Discogs
- Adam Ant at IMDb