The 1975 have never been shy. From "Chocolate" and "The Sound" to "About You" and the sprawling Being Funny in a Foreign Language, they've mixed indie, pop, ambient and controversy into a package that sells out arenas and divides opinion in equal measure. Frontman Matty Healy is either a genius or a troll, depending on who you ask - and that's exactly how they like it.
What's undeniable is their impact. They've given British guitar pop a platform at a time when rap and electronic music dominate the conversation. Tracks like "Somebody Else" and "Love It If We Made It" are part of the Gen-Z canon; the live show is a spectacle. They've also pushed the conversation around mental health, politics and fame into the mainstream - sometimes messily, always memorably.
From Manchester to the world
The 1975 formed in Manchester in 2002, when the members were still at school. Years of gigging and refining their sound led to the self-titled debut in 2013, which introduced a band that could do polished pop ("Chocolate," "The City") and moody atmosphere in the same breath. The follow-up, I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful yet So Unaware of It, was even more ambitious: longer, weirder, and full of moments that shouldn't have worked but did. By the time of A Brief Inquiry into Online Relationships and Notes on a Conditional Form, they'd become one of the biggest British bands of the decade - and one of the most discussed. Every album was an event; every single was a conversation starter.
Matty Healy's persona has been central to the ride. He's been open about addiction, mental health and the strangeness of fame; he's also been deliberately provocative, courting controversy in ways that have sometimes backfired. The band's music has often reflected that tension: sincere and sarcastic, tender and confrontational. Tracks like "Somebody Else" and "Robbers" are genuinely affecting; "Love It If We Made It" is a state-of-the-world anthem that doesn't pull punches. The 1975 have never been easy to pin down - and that's been the point.
Being Funny and the current era
Being Funny in a Foreign Language, produced with Jack Antonoff, was a refinement. The album was shorter, tighter and more focused than some of its predecessors - and it produced some of the band's biggest hits. "About You" became a wedding and TikTok staple; "I'm in Love With You" and "Happiness" kept the dancefloor energy high. The record proved that The 1975 could still evolve without losing what made them special. The live show, with its ambitious staging and Healy's theatrical presence, has remained one of the most talked-about in rock - and the band have continued to headline festivals and arenas on both sides of the Atlantic.
The conversation around The 1975 has often been as much about the frontman as the music. Healy's interviews, his stage antics and his willingness to say the wrong thing have kept the band in the headlines. But beneath the noise, the catalogue speaks for itself: a run of albums that have defined a decade of British guitar pop and given a generation something to argue about - and something to love. As they move into new phases, side projects and whatever comes next, The 1975 have already secured their place: the band that refused to play it safe and became impossible to ignore.
Impossible to ignore
As they move into new phases - side projects, breaks, comebacks - The 1975 have already secured their place in British music history. Love them or hate them, they've given guitar pop a relevance it might otherwise have lost, and they've done it on their own terms. The next chapter will be as unpredictable as the last - and that's exactly how their fans would want it.