Birth name Andrew Hozier-Byrne Instruments Vocalsguitar Also known as Hozier Years active 2008–present | Name Andrew Byrne Genres Indie rocksoulblues Height 1.96 m Occupation(s) Singersongwriter Nationality Irish | |
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Born 17 March 1990 (age 34) Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland ( 1990-03-17 ) Role Singer-songwriter · hozier.com Albums Hozier, Take Me To Church EP, Live in America, From Eden Profiles | ||
Andrew Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990), known professionally by the mononym Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter from County Wicklow. He released his debut EP, featuring the hit single "Take Me to Church", in 2013 and his second EP, From Eden, in 2014. His debut studio album, Hozier, was released in Ireland in September 2014 and globally in October 2014.
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Beginnings
Hozier, the son of a local blues musician, was born in Bray. He was raised in the minority Protestant Quaker faith and attended Delgany National School and St. Gerard's School before he began studying music at Trinity College, Dublin, but dropped out midway through his first year to record demos for Universal Music. While at Trinity, he became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the choral ensemble Anúna from 2009 to 2012, and appears as a soloist on their 2012 release Illumination singing "La Chanson de Mardi Gras." He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.
2013–2016: Hozier
In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church (also containing "Like Real People Do", "Angel of Small Death & the Codeine Scene" and a live version of "Cherry Wine"), with the title track becoming his breakthrough single after it went viral on YouTube. It reached number one on iTunes on 25 October 2013. Hozier followed up Take Me to Church with the new EP From Eden (also containing "Work Song", "Arsonist's Lullabye" and a live version of "To Be Alone"), and a number of festival tour dates and television appearances in the United States. Hozier released his self-titled album, Hozier on 19 September 2014. It featured five singles, including "Take Me to Church", "Work Song", and "From Eden", which were hits on his earlier EPs. On 5 December 2014, it was announced that "Take Me to Church" was nominated at the 57th Annual Grammy Awards for Song of the Year in 2015.
He performed for the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014, Saturday Night Live, and Late Night with Seth Meyers.
He was nominated for a Grammy Award and he performed "Take Me to Church" with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards.
He then performed the single "Take Me to Church" at the 2015 Billboard Music Awards.
In June 2015, he sang the recessional hymn at the funeral of Olivia Burke, a 21-year-old Irish J-1 visa student who was killed along with five others when an apartment balcony collapsed in Berkeley, California. The same month, he also played the Glastonbury Festival.
On 12 November 2015, he won the VH1 Artist of the Year, based on fan votes. He also performed "Take Me to Church" and The Beatles' "Blackbird" with singer Tori Kelly.
In 2016, he released the video for the song "Cherry Wine" to raise awareness of domestic violence. On 4 April 2016, he performed the song on the Late Late Show with James Corden.
In June 2016, he announced a new song "Better Love". The song was part of the Legend of Tarzan soundtrack and was released with the official video.