Oliver Sykes

Oliver Scott "Oli" Sykes (born 20 November 1986) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist of the rock band Bring Me the Horizon. He also founded the apparel company Drop Dead Clothing, and created a graphic novel.

Oliver Sykes
Sykes performing with Bring Me the Horizon in 2019 at Rock am Ring
Born
Oliver Scott Sykes

(1986-11-20) 20 November 1986
Ashford, Kent, England
Occupation
  • Musician
  • singer
  • songwriter
  • entrepreneur
  • clothing designer
  • record producer
Years active2000–present
Spouse(s)
    Hannah Pixie Snowdon
    ​
    ​
    (m. 2015; div. 2016)​
      Alissa Salls
      ​
      (m. 2017)​
      Musical career
      OriginSheffield, South Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
      Genres
      Instruments
      • Vocals
      • keyboards
      Labels
      Associated actsBring Me the Horizon

      Early life

      Sykes was born on 20 November 1986, in Ashford, Kent, England.[1] As an infant, he moved to Australia with his parents, Ian and Carol Sykes, moving between Adelaide and Perth during a period of about six years.[1] The family returned to the United Kingdom when Sykes was about eight, settling in Stocksbridge in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. As a teenager, he attended Stocksbridge High School then Barnsley College.[2]

      Career

      Music career: Womb 2 Da Tomb, Purple Curto and Olisaurus pseudonym (2000–2004)

      In early 2000, while still in school, he began crafting compilation CDs and short tracks under the name Quakebeat.[3] He also played in the mock hip-hop band "Womb 2 Da Tomb" with his brother Tom Sykes and fellow Bring Me the Horizon member Matt Nicholls, and in metal band "Purple Curto" with Neil Whiteley, as the drummer/vocalist under the pseudonym "Olisaurus", which he would later use when releasing solo material.[4]

      Bring Me the Horizon (2004–present)
      Sykes in 2013

      In 2004, Sykes formed Bring Me the Horizon.[5] The band released their debut album Count Your Blessings in 2006, their second album Suicide Season was released on 29 September 2008, their third studio album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. on 4 October 2010, they released their fourth studio album Sempiternal on 1 April 2013 which features the new member Jordan Fish and Sykes playing rhythm guitar for the album and they released their fifth studio album That's the Spirit on 11 September 2015, their sixth album Amo was released on 25 January 2019. On 27 December 2019, they released their commercial release Music to Listen to~Dance to~Blaze to~Pray to~Feed to~Sleep to~Talk to~Grind to~Trip to~Breathe to~Help to~Hurt to~Scroll to~Roll to~Love to~Hate to~Learn Too~Plot to~Play to~Be to~Feel to~Breed to~Sweat to~Dream to~Hide to~Live to~Die to~Go To. On 30 October 2020, they released another commercial release Post Human: Survival Horror.[5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12]

      Sykes performing in 2019

      Collaborations and other musical projects

      Sykes has been featured in songs for the bands You Me at Six's "Bite My Tongue", Architects' "Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat", Admiral's Arms' "Dawn of the New Age" and Deez Nuts' "If You Don't Know, You Know Now". He is also featured on a music video of American rock band A Day to Remember's "All I Want".[13][14]

      In 2017, Sykes featured as guest vocalist in the song "Silence Speaks" with English metalcore band While She Sleeps.[15]

      Sykes was briefly featured in the music video for Charli XCX's song "Boys" along with other artists such as Brendon Urie, Denzel Curry, Charlie Puth and Stormzy.[16]

      Sykes has also collaborated with DJ Skrillex as the backing vocals of a Bring Me the Horizon song "Visions" off the Bring Me the Horizon album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret.. Skrillex has also remixed a Bring Me the Horizon song "The Sadness Will Never End" off Suicide Season which the remix was featured on the Cut Up! version of the album.

      On 27 October 2017, Sykes performed with Linkin Park – who he claims were his first ever concert as a teenager – at Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington. He performed the song "Crawling" with DJ and record producer Zedd on percussion.[17]

      Clothing line

      In addition to his vocal and songwriting contributions in Bring Me the Horizon, Sykes is also the founder and owner of the alternative clothing line Drop Dead Clothing (stylized as DROP DEAD).[18]

      Writing

      On 1 February 2013, Sykes launched a Kickstarter project to fund a graphic novel created by him and Drop Dead Clothing artist Ben Ashton-Bell, entitled Raised by Raptors. With a £15,000 goal, the project exceeded its target within weeks of launching, attaining a final total of £39,223.[19]

      Influences and legacy

      Influences
      Sykes in 2016

      Sykes has cited Pantera, Black Flag, Misfits, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Every Time I Die, Skycamefalling, Poison the Well, Norma Jean and The Dillinger Escape Plan.[20]

      Vocals and lyrics

      Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him. He mainly draws from personal experience and has likened the band's live performances to being therapeutic.[21] In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content fixated on heartbreak or other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about".[22]

      Legacy

      The main character of the French feature film A Taste of Ink is an admirer of Oliver Sykes and Bring Me the Horizon. He is a post-hardcore singer and wears as a tribute to Oliver Sykes a Michael Jordan black jersey.[23] The French title Compte tes blessures is inspired by the first album of the band Count Your Blessings.[24]

      Personal life

      Since the age of 12, Sykes has suffered from a form of night terrors known as sleep paralysis, which is the inability to move or speak while falling asleep, or upon waking.[25]

      Sykes became a vegetarian in 2003 at age 16 after watching a documentary about animal cruelty online, "When I saw how animals are tortured on factory farms, I couldn't justify being a part of that cruelty." He went on to become one of the faces for PETA, eventually designing charity T-shirts with the slogan "Meat Sucks" via his Drop Dead Clothing line.[26] He later became a vegan in 2013.[27] His passion for veganism can be seen in his 2018 venture 'Church', an arcade bar with a fully vegan menu based in Sheffield's Kelham Island.[28]

      Sykes is an outspoken atheist, stating "I don't believe in God. I was asked to believe in him when I was in a shitty place. I couldn't understand why I needed a god or, in my opinion, something that doesn't exist."[20] In an interview with Radio.com in 2013, he also stated "In my opinion, I don't think believing in God is a victimless crime. It's not that I'm right and everyone else is wrong. If it was just people believing in God had no effect on the world, then it wouldn't matter. Then you can believe in what you want, if you want an imaginary friend that lives in the clouds that's fine. But it's the fact that it does have an effect on other people and other things and the whole world is in turmoil mainly because of religion, at least a massive part of it."[29][30]

      Sykes performing in 2014

      After receiving the Album of the Year award at the first Alternative Press Music Awards in 2014, Sykes revealed a history of addiction and abuse of the drug Ketamine. Addressing the crowd, he said "My band wanted to kill me, my parents wanted to kill me, my fucking brother wanted to kill me," and also admitted, "I went to rehab for a month, and you guys were sending me texts and e-mails. When I got out of that rehab, I didn't want to scream anymore, I wanted to sing from the fucking rooftops."[31][32]

      On 12 July 2015 in Tuscany, Italy, Sykes married model and tattoo artist Hannah Pixie Snowdon.[33] In 2016, Sykes announced that he and Snowdon had separated.[34] In May 2019, Sykes alleged that their relationship ended due to Snowdon's infidelity, and referred to her as his "ex-wife".[35] Snowdon had admitted to being unfaithful, but alleges abuse and infidelity from Sykes as well.[36] The band's 2019 single, "Medicine" was written about the pair's relationship.[37]

      On 22 July 2017, Sykes married Brazilian model Alissa Salls.[38]

      Controversies

      Urination and assault allegation

      In 2007, a female fan accused Sykes of urinating on her and accused him and his bandmates of assaulting her. Oliver Sykes was put on trial and plead not guilty.[39] The fan took a photo of her face, which appeared to be covered in blood. An employee of venue Rock City in Nottingham, England said: "After the gig, two girls tried to get on the tour bus. Later on, the singer, Oliver Sykes, tried it on with one of the girls. When she said no, he called her a dyke and first pissed on her before him and the rest of the band threw her and her friend off the bus. Once off the bus, someone within the band threw an empty bottle of Jagermeister at the girl's head". Sykes strongly denied the allegations. According to record label Visible Noise Records, "numerous versions of the alleged incident have been posted online".[40] Charges against Sykes were dropped due to a lack of evidence.[41]

      Videos with Architects

      During a tour in 2008, Bring Me the Horizon and the British metalcore band Architects filmed two videos. The first showed a fight between Sykes and Architects' lead singer Sam Carter,[42] while the second showed an ambulance with Sykes supposedly inside.[43] The videos were uploaded to YouTube, leading to outrage from many Bring Me the Horizon fans, and resulted in hate mail and death threats being sent to Carter. However, it was later revealed that the videos were a stunt staged by both bands, and that they are in fact good friends. Sykes said, "All-day events can get boring very fast so we conjured up the first idiotic thing we could think of and made it as unbelievable as possible."[44]

      Moshing incident

      In June 2013, Sykes and Bring Me the Horizon were sued by the parents of a 12-year-old girl due to injuries received in the mosh pit while watching the band's performance during the Warped Tour 2013. This led to Sykes announcing via Twitter that legally he was no longer able to start any form of moshing activities during his concerts.[45] However, Sykes later stated that the suit had been dropped and that moshing was not going to be banned.[46]

      Domestic violence allegations

      Sykes was accused of domestic violence by his former wife Hannah Pixie Snowdon on Instagram in 2016, alleging that Sykes "slapped and spat" on her. Snowdon also alleged that she "wasn't the first girl this entire pattern happened to."[36]

      Discography

      Bring Me the Horizon
      Main article: Bring Me the Horizon discography
      YearSongAlbumArtist
      2009"Dawn of the New Age"Stories Are ToldAdmiral's Arms
      2010"If You Don't Know, Now You Know"This One's For YouDeez Nuts
      2011"Bite My Tongue"Sinners Never SleepYou Me at Six
      2012"Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat"DaybreakerArchitects
      2017"Silence Speaks"You Are WeWhile She Sleeps

      Music videos
      YearSongArtistDirectorTypeLink
      2011"All I Want"A Day to RememberDrew RussPerformanceVideo on YouTube
      "Bite My Tongue"You Me at SixTim MattiaVideo on YouTube
      2017"Silence Speaks"While She SleepsTom Welsh and Taylor FawcettVideo on YouTube

      Bibliography

      As writer
      • Raised by Raptors (2013–present)[47]

      References
      1. "Oli Sykes Biography". 5 July 2016. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      2. Ben Patashnik (28 September 2010). "Inside The Mind of Oliver Sykes". Rock Sound. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
      3. Oliver Sykes bio last.fm
      4. "Read and Take: OLIVER SYKES BIOGRAPHY". Read and Take. Read and Take. 29 April 2013. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
      5. Mason, Stewart. "Bring Me the Horizon Allmusic". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 19 May 2011. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
      6. Welch, Ben (6 April 2016). Bring Me the Horizon: Heavy Sounds from the Steel City. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1784189860.
      7. Ritchie 2012, p. 56.
      8. "September Is 'Suicide Season'". mibba. 28 July 2008. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      9. "Bring Me the Horizon: There Is a Hell, Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven, Let's Keep It a Secret. (2010)". HMV Group. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      10. Gregory Heaney. "Sempiternal -Bring Me the Horizon : Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards : AllMusic". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      11. James Christopher Monger. "That's the Spirit". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      12. Yeung, Neil. "Bring Me the Horizon Amo". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      13. Mair, Rob. "You Me At Six - Sinners Never Sleep". Big Cheese. Big Cheese Publishing Ltd. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      14. "5 Awesome Oli Sykes Guest Vocals". Rock Sound. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      15. Morton, Luke (23 February 2017). "The story behind While She Sleeps' new song Silence Speaks". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      16. Kile, Meredith B. (27 July 2017). "Meet All 75 Swoonworthy Guys in Charli XCX's 'Boys' Video -- From Joe Jonas to KAYTRANADA". Entertainment Tonight.
      17. "Oli Sykes Of Bring Me The Horizon On Chester Bennington — Kerrang!". Kerrang. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
      18. Rock Sound No. 174 p.63
      19. "Kickstarter of Raised By Raptors comic". Kickstarter. Oliver Sykes & Ben Ashton-Bell. Retrieved 29 August 2013.
      20. "Oli Sykes of Bring Me The Horizon Talks "Sempiternal", Movies, and More". ARTISTdirect.
      21. Darryl Sterdan (18 November 2010). "Horizon broadens for young band". QMI Agency. Canoe Inc. Retrieved 20 March 2012.
      22. Raziq Rauf (6 November 2006). "Bring Me The Horizon: "It's just party music"". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 7 August 2014.
      23. Variety, John Hopewell, 22 September 2016
      24. Alternative Press, Taylor Markarian, 2 February 2017
      25. James McMahon, ed. (25 January 2014). "The Untold Story of Kerrang!: Bring Me The Horizon". Kerrang!. London, United Kingdom: Bauer Consumer Media (1501). ISSN 0262-6624.
      26. "Kerrang! Oli Sykes joins animal rights campaign". Kerrang!. 30 October 2008. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2016.
      27. "Why I went vegan". Fry Family Foods. 18 January 2017. Retrieved 28 December 2019.
      28. "Church, Temple of Fun - About".
      29. "Interview: Bring Me the Horizon Live Through Addictions, Religious Zealots to Bring Metal to the Masses". Archived from the original on 10 September 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
      30. "Bring Me the Horizon Live Through Addictions, Religious Zealots to Bring Metal to the Masses" (Video). Radio.com. 7 October 2014. Retrieved 10 November 2014. Bring Me The Horizon's super star singer Oliver Sykes and newest member Jordan Fish discuss the band's big success with their single "Can You Feel My Heart" as well as controversial topics like religion versus atheism, being friends with Skrillex, and the surprising number of girls that fans of the metal band.
      31. Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes accepts APMA for Album of the Year with speech about his addiction, YouTube
      32. Morton, Luke (20 November 2016). "Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes: 'I Didn't Care If I Lived Or Died.'". Metal Hammer. Retrieved 16 July 2017.
      33. Sharp, Tyler (13 July 2015). "Oli Sykes marries his girlfriend". Altpress.com. Retrieved 22 July 2015.
      34. Siegert, Suzi (30 August 2016). "Oliver Sykes & Hannah Pixie Snowdon Packen Über Ihre Trennung Aus - Vor Über 2,5 Mio Instagram-Followern - Impericon Magazin". Impericon Magazin (in German). Retrieved 16 July 2017.
      35. O'Connor, Roisin (3 May 2019). "Bring Me the Horizon's Oli Sykes: 'Being cheated on makes you think the worst of people'". The Independent. Independent Print Limited. Retrieved 21 June 2019.
      36. "Bring Me The Horizon's Oli Sykes 'slapped and spat' estranged wife". Female First. 29 August 2016. Retrieved 23 September 2020.
      37. "Bring Me The Horizon – medicine Lyrics". Genius.com. Retrieved 12 January 2019.
      38. "Oliver Sykes & Alissa Sals Got Married". Metalcore News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
      39. "Bring Me The Horizon Vocalist Accused Of Urinating On Fan". Blabbermouth.net. 15 April 2007. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
      40. Gourlay, Dom (11 April 2007). "Bring Me The... head of the person that did this". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
      41. Diver, Mike (4 September 2007). "Bring Me the Horizon frontman: charges dropped". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
      42. "OLI SYKES GETS PWNED!!!!!" (Video). YouTube. Emersound. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013. SAM CARTER KICKING THE FU*K OUT OF OLI SYKES! HELL YES!!!!
      43. "Oli Sykes gets taken off in an ambulance !!!" (Video). YouTube. Emersound. 25 January 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013. finally, there is a god! check it out!!!!
      44. "BMTH fans send Architects singer death threats" (Report). Kerrang!. Dan. 12 February 2008. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
      45. "Bring Me the Horizon Apparently Getting Sued By Concert Goer's Parents". Under the Gun. Kriston McConnell. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original (Report) on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013. According to some tweets by Oli Sykes, Bring Me The Horizon are being sued by a 12-year-old girl's parents because she was injured in a mosh pit during the band's performance ...
      46. "Update: Bring Me the Horizon Not Getting Sued, Moshing Not Banned At Warped Either". Under the Gun. Kriston McConnell. 25 June 2013. Archived from the original (Report) on 10 November 2013. Retrieved 10 November 2013.
      47. "Raised by Raptors: a new graphic novel by Oliver Sykes and Ben Ashton-Bell". 7 February 2013. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
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