Hozier (musician)

Andrew Hozier-Byrne
Hozier in 2015
Background information
Birth name	Andrew Hozier-Byrne
Also known as	Hozier
Born	17 March 1990 Greystones, County Wicklow, Ireland
Genres	Indie rock soul blues folk R&B
Occupation(s)	Musician singer songwriter
Instruments	Vocals guitar bass piano synthesizer
Years active	2008–present
Labels	Rubyworks Island Columbia
Website	hozier.com

Andrew Hozier-Byrne (born 17 March 1990),^[1] known professionally by the mononym Hozier, is an Irish musician, singer and songwriter from County Wicklow.^[2] 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.

Career

Beginnings

Hozier, the son of a local blues musician, was born in Bray.^[3] He was raised in the minority Protestant Quaker faith^[4] 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.^[5] 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."^[6] He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.^[7]

2013–16: Take Me to Church, Hozier and Better Love

In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church (also containing "Like Real People Do", "Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene" and a live version of "Cherry Wine"), with the title track becoming his breakthrough single after it went viral on YouTube.^[8] 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.^[9] 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,^[10] and Late Night with Seth Meyers.^[11][12]

He was nominated for a Grammy and he performed "Take Me to Church" with Annie Lennox at the 2015 Grammy Awards.^[13]

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.^[14] 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.^[15]

In 2016, he released the video for the song "Cherry Wine" to raise awareness of domestic violence.^[16]

In June 2016 he announced a new song 'Better Love', the song as part of The Legend of Tarzan soundtrack, was released with the official video.^[17][18]

Discography

Studio albums

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions											Certifications	Sales
		IRE [19]	AUS [20]	BEL (FL) [21]	CAN [22]	DEN [23]	GER [24]	ITA [25]	NLD [26]	NZ [27]	UK [28]	US [29]
Hozier	Release: 19 September 2014 Label: Rubyworks, Island Format: CD, LP, digital download	1	3	2	2	9	14	7	7	3	3	2	IRMA: 6× Platinum[30] ARIA: Platinum[31] MC: Platinum[32] BPI: Platinum[33] RIAA: Platinum[34] RMNZ: Gold[35]	WW: 1,000,000[30] US: 509,000[36]

Extended plays

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
		US [37]
Take Me to Church	Released: 2013 Label: Rubyworks Format: Digital download	107
From Eden	Released: 9 March 2014 Label: Rubyworks Format: Digital download	—
Live in America	Released: 31 July 2015 Label: Rubyworks Format: Digital download	—
"—" denotes an EP that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Singles

Year	Title	Peak chart positions										Certifications	Album
		IRE [19]	AUS [38]	BEL (FL) [21]	CAN [39]	GER [24]	ITA [25]	NLD [26]	NZ [27]	UK [28]	US [29]
2013	"Take Me to Church"	2	2	1	2	2	1	2	2	2	2	ARIA: 5× Platinum[40] BEA: Platinum[41] MC: 8× Platinum[32] BVMI: 3× Gold[42] FIMI: 6× Platinum[43] RMNZ: 3× Platinum[44] BPI: 2× Platinum[33] RIAA: 5× Platinum[34]	Hozier
2014	"From Eden"	2	—	59	—	—	—	—	—	69	—
	"Sedated"	3	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
2015	"Work Song"	47	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	120
	"Someone New"	13	24	55	90	—	—	—	13	19	101	ARIA: Gold[45] BPI: Gold[33] RMNZ: Gold[46]
2016	"Better Love"	72 [47]	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—		The Legend of Tarzan
"—" denotes a single that did not chart or was not released in that territory.

Promotional singles

Year	Title	Album
2014	"Arsonist's Lullabye"	Hozier (Deluxe edition)

Awards

BBC Music Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	Hozier	International Artist of the Year	Nominated
	"Take Me to Church"	Song of the Year	Won

American Music Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	Hozier	Favorite Alternative Artist	Nominated

Billboard Music Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	Hozier	Top New Artist	Nominated
		Top Rock Artist	Won
	"Take Me to Church"	Top Streaming Song (Audio)	Nominated
		Top Rock Song	Won
	Hozier	Top Rock Album	Nominated

Los Premios 40 Principales

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	Hozier	Best International New Artist	Nominated
	"Take Me to Church"	Best International Video	Nominated

MTV Europe Music Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2014	"Take Me to Church"	Best Song with a Social Message	Nominated

MTV Video Music Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	"Take Me to Church"	Best Rock Video	Nominated
		Best Direction	Nominated

European Border Breakers Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	Hozier	Album of the Year	Won

Grammy Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	"Take Me to Church"	Song of the Year	Nominated

Teen Choice Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2015	"Take Me to Church"	Choice Rock Song	Won

Juno Awards

Year	Nominee/work	Award	Result
2016	Hozier	International Album of the Year	Nominated

References

1. "Hozier - Biography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
2. "Meet the Bray singer cracking America". Irish Independent. 13 March 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
3. "Hozier - Biography". Billboard.com. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
4. O’Regan, Brendan. "RTÉ's new season is a mixed blessing". The Irish Catholic. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
5. "An interview with Hozier". Irish Times (Culture). 14 October 2013. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
6. "Anúna Timeline June 2015".
7. Anna Job (1 August 2013). "Hozier | Interview". Goldenplec.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
8. "Birth of a Buzz: Behind the Scenes as Hozier Goes Viral". Billboard.com. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
9. "Wicklow singer Hozier takes The Ellen Show by storm". MSN News. 22 May 2014. Retrieved 3 June 2014.
10. "DOUBLE whammy! Hozier's SNL performance is a total hit, with the Wicklow singer singing two hits". evoke.ie. 14 October 2014.
11. "Living the dream! Hozier performs on stage at the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, surrounded by lingerie clad beauties = 3 December 2014". evoke.ie.
12. "Hozier joins Taylor Swift, Ariana Grande & Ed Sheeran to perform at Victoria's Secret Fashion Show 2014". evoke.ie. 18 November 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
13. "Superstar duet! Guess who Hozier is performing with at the Grammy Awards?". evoke.ie. 29 January 2015.
14. "Hozier performs at funeral of Olivia Burke – Tributes to 'caring, considerate' daughter". evoke.ie. 24 June 2015.
15. "We Need More Hozier + Tori Kelly Collabs Like This Joint Performance Of "Blackbird" At VH1's Big Music In 2015 Concert".
16. "Hozier- Cherry Wine". 13 February 2016.
17. "Hozier announced the song "Better Love"". 15 June 2016.
18. "Hozier - Better Love (From The Legend of Tarzan - Single Version)". 16 June 2016.
19. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Hozier". Irish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
20. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Hozier". Australian Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
21. Hung, Steffen. "Discografie Hozier". Belgium Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
22. "Hozier". billboard.com.
23. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Hozier". Danish Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
24. Hung, Steffen. "Discographie Hozier". German Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
25. "Hozier - Hozier (album)". Italiancharts.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2015. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
26. Hung, Steffen. "Discografie Hozier". Dutch Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
27. Hung, Steffen. "Discography Hozier". New Zealand Charts Portal. Hung Medien (Steffen Hung).
28. • For all except where noted: "Hozier > UK Charts". Officialcharts.com. Official Charts Company.
    • For "Someone New": "New Chart Entries: 21.03.2015". zobbel.de. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
29. "Hozier – Chart History: The Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
30. "Hozier dethrones James Bay to reclaim Irish No 1". 10 April 2015. Retrieved 28 April 2015.
31. Ryan, Gavin (10 October 2015). "ARIA Albums: Triple J's 'Like a Version 11' Stops Cold Chisel From Debuting At No 1". Noise11. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
32. "Canadian certifications – Hozier". Music Canada. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
33. "Certified Awards Search" (To access, enter the search parameter "Hozier" and select "Search by Keyword"). British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
34. "American certifications – Hozier". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
35. "New Zealand album certifications – Hozier – Hozier". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
36. "Billboard 200 Chart Moves: 'Hozier' Has Sold a Half-Million - Billboard". Billboard.
37. "Hozier – Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
38. "australian-charts.com - Discography Hozier". Hung Medien. Retrieved 4 April 2015.
39. "Hozier – Chart History: Billboard Canadian Hot 100". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media.
40. Ryan, Gavin (1 August 2015). "ARIA Singles: Belgium's Lost Frequencies Is Number One For Second Week". Noise11. Retrieved 1 August 2015.
41. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2015" (in Dutch). Ultratop. Retrieved 20 February 2015.
42. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank". Retrieved 28 April 2015.
43. "Hozier - Take Me To Church" (in Italian). FIMI.
44. "New Zealand single certifications – Hozier – Take Me to Church". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 27 March 2015.
45. "ARIA Australian Top 50 Singles Chart". Australian Recording Industry Association. 15 June 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
46. "NZ Top 40 Singles Chart". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
47. "GFK Chart-Track". Retrieved 10 July 2016.

External links

• Official website
• Hozier at the Internet Movie Database