Elbow

Rock band Elbow began as a Sly Stone-influenced funk act called Soft, before deciding to change their name and take musical cues from The Velvet Underground, Radiohead, and U2. ∙ David Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Joni Mitchell’s For the Roses are two of Elbow frontman Guy Garvey’s favorite albums from childhood. ∙ Elbow has had three consecutive No. 1 UK albums: 2014’s The Take Off and Landing of Everything, 2017’s Little Fictions, and 2019’s Giants of All Sizes. ∙ Velvet Underground cofounder John Cale declared Elbow’s “Switching Off” to be one of his “desert island discs”—a compliment Garvey called “one of the greatest moments of my life.” ∙ The band won Britain’s Mercury Prize for 2008’s The Seldom Seen Kid, which has sold more than 1 million copies. ∙ In 2011, “One Day Like This” was ranked No. 41 on NME’s list of the 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years. ∙ Garvey was commissioned by the BBC to write “First Steps,” the theme song for the network’s coverage of the 2012 Summer Olympics.