Gary Lightbody (born 18 June 1976) is a multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter from Northern Ireland best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol.
Born in Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland, to Jack and Lynne (née Wray) Lightbody, on 15 June 1976, Jack Lightbody has been an independent business owner and has roots in Rosemount, Derry. Gary Lightbody has one sister, Sarah, and attended Rockport School and Campbell College.
In 1994, Lightbody left home for Scotland to study English literature and English language at the University of Dundee.
Today, Lightbody owns a small place in Glasgow and says he will never leave the country behind, though he resides in Belfast. He feels an attachment to the place, as it gave him his first taste of success.
In the early days, Lightbody used to drink very heavily, and in his words, was "irrational, erratic, neurotic". He had become frustrated by Snow Patrol's lack of financial success and felt lost and aimless. He started cursing at the audience and demolishing the band's equipment. He found himself breaking guitars they could not afford. This phase ran for two years. He later gave up drinking and now does it "for fun" and credits his band mates for the turnaround.
Though a musician, he cannot read music and has said that he "guesses" his way through chords. He has a baritone vocal range.
Lightbody writes as essayist articles or columns in variously music magazines and newspapers like Q magazine and previously wrote for The Irish Times music section as guest-editor. As an impassioned music fan and DJ, he recommends in his blogs or essays albums and artists of different and wide-ranging genres of music.
Growing up, Lightbody listened to artists like Super Furry Animals, Quincy Jones, Kool & the Gang, and Michael Jackson. He subsequently got into hard rock bands AC/DC and KISS as a teen, and then alternative acts like Sebadoh, Mudhoney, Pixies and Pavement.[34]
As a boy, he dreamed of becoming "the biggest rock star on the planet" like Bono, but he was never "cool".
Lightbody is known to keep his personal life private.
Lightbody is passionate about football (soccer) and has been known to support both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland national football teams.
He is a fan of the X-Men, particularly Wolverine, and owns a stack of comics. He bought several comics as a kid and has some that he has never opened, hoping they would become rare collectibles someday; in a later interview, he light-heartedly mentioned that they could earn him a small pension. He considers himself a "comics freak".
Despite having written several romantic songs, Lightbody has been reported as having had trouble talking to women. Lightbody has been in many doomed relationships, and he blames their failure on only himself, considering himself "rubbish with women". He attributes the failure partly to him "never being in the same place for very long", and admits that at times he's been hopelessly in love.
Lightbody has been involved in numerous causes, mostly related to music and football.
Lightbody is one of the supporting voices for the growing music-scene in his hometown Belfast in Northern Ireland and once stated in an interview to have grown up as an "Indie rock kid" inspired to become a musician through influences of artists and acts such as Kurt Cobain, Super Furry Animals, and Sebadoh.
Lightbody has worked with the aid organisation Save the Children in Uganda, an experience on which he has written in New Statesman. He has also been involved in raising awareness of depression, a condition that he himself has struggled with.
In July 2012, Lightbody received an Honorary Doctorate in Letters from the University of Ulster at a ceremony in the Millennium Forum, Derry/Londonderry.
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