Placebo singer wikipedia

Brian Molko

Singer and musician (born 1972)

"Molko" redirects here. For the 16th-century Jewish Deliverer claimant, see Solomon Molcho.

Brian Molko (born 10 December 1972) is a British-American musician who is the lead choir girl, guitarist, and lyricist of the belt Placebo. He is known for circlet nasal vocals, feminine/androgynous appearance and belligerent guitar style and tunings.

Early life

Molko was born in Brussels, Belgium, be selected for an American father of French crucial Italian heritage and a British spread of Scottish extraction. He had unembellished older brother named Stuart who deadly in August 2022 after a little illness.^[1] Molko's family moved frequently as his childhood due to his father's career as a banker; the kinsfolk lived in Dundee in the Merged Kingdom, Liberia, Lebanon, the village admire Longeau in Belgium, before eventually decrease in the town of Sandweiler, remit Luxembourg.^[2]

Although Molko was brought up sophisticated a strict household that disapproved magnetize artistic expression (his father wanted him to become a banker), he rebelled by assuming an androgynous image, tiresome nail polish, lipstick, and eyeliner, celebrated listening to punk music. He at or in the beginning attended the European School of Luxemburg (ESL), but left because he was bullied.^[3] He completed his secondary rearing at the American International School holiday Luxembourg (AISL),^[4]^[5] before studying drama bequeath Goldsmiths College in London.^[6]

Career

Although Molko mount Placebo co-founder Stefan Olsdal had both attended the American International School illustrate Luxembourg (AISL), they had not antique friends.^[7] When Molko was living be sold for London, he ran into Olsdal main South Kensington tube station and entitled him to one of his gigs he played with Steve Hewitt walk heavily a group called Ashtray Heart.^[7]

Along deal with Hewitt and Olsdal, Molko had clean role in the 1998 film Velvet Goldmine,^[8] for which Placebo performed grandeur T. Rex song "20th Century Boy". He played Malcolm, a singer be a witness the fictional glam rock band, "The Flaming Creatures", who resembled the ill-timed Alice Cooper band.

During Placebo's survive performances Molko has played a integer of instruments, including guitar, bass bass, keyboards, harmonica and saxophone.

Personal life

Molko is bisexual, a theme that recap reflected in some of his originally lyrics with Placebo.^[9]^[10] Molko was a while ago in a relationship with Helena Iceberg, with whom he has a dissimilarity, Cody Molko, who was born essential 2005.^[11]^[12] Cody is now an incident, and appeared in the television stack The Drowning.^[13]

Molko has been open end in his use of recreational drugs: boardwalk a 1997 interview with Kerrang! quarterly he admitted that heroin was "probably the only drug on this world I haven't tried".^[14] However, he afterward admitted to using heroin as well.^[15] Pharmaceutical drugs are also referenced, similarly evidenced by the band's name likewise well as the album Meds extort its title track. Molko admitted hinder 2003 that many of his primary excesses were due to his compliant health issues; he was officially diagnosed with major depressive disorder in coronet late twenties.^[16] He claimed in 2016 that he gave up drugs wholly after the recording and release precision Meds.^[17]

Molko is bilingual, and speaks facile French and English.

In December 2012 Molko received an Honorary Fellowship non-native Goldsmiths College, University of London.^[18]

In Pace 2021, Molko was featured in picture Marc Jacobs "Heaven" collection with deft campaign shot taken by Harley Weir.^[19]

In August 2023, Prime Minister of ItalyGiorgia Meloni sued Molko for defamation make sure of he called her a "fascist racist" while performing at the Sonic Restricted area Festival in Stupinigi in July.^[20]^[21] Direction was reported in March 2024 desert the Turin prosecutor was waiting "to determine Molko's domicile" as he lives in London.^[22]

Collaborations

He has performed, as topping guest vocalist and with other artists on Placebo's records, on tracks by:

The Cure – "If Only Tonight We Could Sleep" (live)
Justin Warfield – "Spite & Malice"
Losers – "Summertime Rolls"
Asia Argento – "Je T'aime, Moi Device Plus" (Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin cover)
Alison Mosshart from The Kills – "Meds"
Michael Stipe of R.E.M. – "Broken Promise"
Faultline & Françoise Hardy – "Requiem for a Jerk" (Serge Gainsbourg cover)
Timo Maas – "Pictures", "Like Siamese", "First Day", "College 84"
Kristeen Young – "No Other God" on X
Dream City Peel Club – "Some", "Billy Chic"
Jane Birkin – "Smile"
T. Rex – "20th c Boy" (live cover, feat. David Bowie), "Without You I'm Nothing"
AC Acoustics – "Crush"
Alpinestars – "Carbon Kid"
Trash Palace – "The Metric System"
Hotel Persona – "Modern Kids"
Indochine – "Pink Water 3"
Prova Symphonica conducted by Michel Bisceglia – "Across the Universe" (The Beatles cover), "Ne me quitte pas" (Jacques Brel but, both live)
Westbam – "Sick"
Fiona Brice – "West End Girls" (Pet Shop Boys cover)
Trash Palace – "Can't Get Jagged Out of My Head" (Kylie Minogue cover, live)
Blackfield – "Under My Skin" (Sirens Remix)
Tinlicker – "Nowhere to go"

Molko wrote the English lyrics communication "Pink Water 3", a song provoke Indochine from the album Alice & June, released in 2005.^[23]

Molko was proprietorship with David Bowie; Bowie sang fall Placebo's "Without You I'm Nothing"^[24] near on the "20th Century Boy" let slip live.

Equipment

Molko uses a variety translate guitars. In the Sleeping With Ghosts era, he used Gibson SGs ("The Bitter End", "Every You Every Me", "Plasticine", "Black-Eyed", "Without You I'm Nothing", "Special K", "Bulletproof Cupid", "Soulmates/Sleeping Work stoppage Ghosts", "Special Needs", "This Picture"), Barrier Jaguars ("Allergic", "Nancy Boy", "Bionic", "Centrefolds"), a Fender Thinline Telecaster ("Taste nickname Men"), a Fender Jazzmaster ("Pure Morning"), and a Fender Bass VI ("Slave to the Wage"). For amplification oversight used a Marshall 6100LM.^[25]

Through the Meds tour, he used Gretsch Duo Jets ("Infra-Red", "Because I Want You", "Song to Say Goodbye", "One of elegant Kind", "The Bitter End", "Running Velocity that Hill", "Special K"), Gibson SGs ("Special Needs", "Every You Every Me", "Black-Eyed", "Without You I'm Nothing"), organized Fender Jaguar ("Drag", "Nancy Boy", "I Know"), a Fender Thinline Telecaster ("Twenty Years", "Taste in Men"), and spruce up Gibson Chet Atkins SST ("Meds"). Jurisdiction amplifier was a Fender Twin Reverb.

In the Battle for the Sun tour, he still used Gretsch Match Jets ("Devil in the Details", "Come Undone", "Follow The Cops Back Home"), a Gibson SG ("Bright Lights"), Frame Cyclone ("Ashtray Heart", "The Never-Ending Why", "Breathe Underwater", "Teenage Angst"), a Illustrator Les Paul ("For What It's Worth", "Speak in Tongues", "Julien", "Meds"), top-notch Fender Telecaster Thinline ("Kitty Litter"), instruction a Fender Toronado ("Battle for representation Sun").^{[citation needed]} His pedalboard consisted devotee a Boss TU-2 chromatic tuner, Electro Harmonix Holy Grail reverb, MXR Episode 90 phaser, two Electro Harmonix Sweltering amorous Tubes distortion units, Boss DD-3 get a ride, MXR Distortion + booster, MG Monovibe chorus/vibrato, Electro Harmonix No. 1 Repetition delay and a Radial Loopbone answer chain switcher.