Example

Example is Elliot John Gleave, an English rapper, singer, songwriter and producer born on 20 June 1982, and he spent a few years grafting before the big room came calling. His debut album, What We Made, arrived in 2007, and a cheeky companion mixtape, What We Almost Made, followed in 2008.

The breakthrough came in 2010 with his second album, Won't Go Quietly, a record of club-sized synths and chest-out choruses. It reached number four on the UK Albums Chart and topped the UK Dance Chart, and both the title track and "Kickstarts" became top 10 singles. "Kickstarts" is the one that sums him up: half rap, half rave, all fist-pumping momentum.

Then he went further. Playing in the Shadows, released in September 2011, went to the top of the charts on the back of two number one singles, "Changed the Way You Kiss Me" and "Stay Awake", both built for the moment the bass drops and the whole festival field loses it. The Evolution of Man followed in November 2012, landing at 13 on the albums chart while again topping the dance list, and "All the Wrong Places" and "Kids Again" kept him in the singles chart ahead of his fifth album, Live Life Living, in July 2014.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.