An American singer/songwriter, formerly a member of The Czars.
Born in 1968, Grant intended to become a German translator, but discovered his English was not adequate enough for the task. He and Chris Pearson later founded the Czars, an Alternative Rock band, releasing 7 albums and 4 singles between 1995 and 2005. After a brief hiatus from the music industry, Grant released a solo album, Queen of Denmark, in 2010. Dealing with depression, homosexuality and substance abuse, the album was a critical success, with British magazinge Mojo naming it the album of the year. This was followed up with Pale Green Ghosts in 2013 and Grey Tickles, Black Pressure in 2015.
Grant's musical style includes elements of Folk, New Wave, Synth-Pop, and Industrial Dance. Though dealing with serious thematic elements, his lyrics often border on Buffy Speak, combined with a rather frank and colorful vocabulary.
John currently lives in Iceland. He is openly gay, and in 2012 publicly acknowledged that he is HIV positive.
Discography:
- Queen of Denmark (2010)
- Pale Green Ghosts (2013)
- Grey Tickles, Black Pressure (2015)
- Love Is Magic (2018)
- Boy from Michigan (2021)
Tropes associated with John Grant:
- Anti-Love Song: "Where Dreams Go To Die".
- Badass Baritone: "Vietnam" and others.
- Big Beautiful Man: The video for "Disappointing" is full of "bears". John himself qualifies.
- Brutal Honesty: His frank and autobiographical writing style.
- BSoD Song: "Queen of Denmark" is a very heavy one.
- Casanova Wannabe: The subject of "He's Got His Mother's Hips".
- Deadpan Snarker: A few songs, including "Silver Platter".
- Epic Rocking: Several songs clock at over 6 minutes. The longest one in his discography is "The Only Baby" (9:38), while those over 7 minutes are "The Rusty Bull" (7:58), "Just So You Know" (7:57), "What Time?" (7:55), "Glacier" (7:38), "Boy from Michigan" (7:37) and "Diet Gum" (7:25).
- Gratuitous German: The end of "That's the Good News".
- "I Am" Song: "GMF" is a satirical one.
- Inferiority Superiority Complex: The subject of "GMF". Implied in "Snug Slacks" as well.
- Intercourse with You: "Supernatural Defibrillator".
- List Song: "Disappointing".
- Love Hurts: Several songs, most notably "Vietnam":Your silence is a weapon, it's like a nuclear bomb.It's like the Agent Orange they used to use in Vietnam.
- Pep-Talk Song: "Glacier".
- Precision F-Strike: A staple of his work, often crossed with Lyrical Dissonance, with notable examples being "Chicken Bones", "I Hate This Town", "GMF", and "Queen of Denmark."
- Pretender Diss: The subject of "Black Belt":You think you're mysterious, you cannot be seriousYou got lots of time to think of new ways to deceive yourselfYou are callipygian, but look at the state you're inYou got really nice clothes, bet you didn't pay for those
- Protest Song: "Glacier", again.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech: "You and Him" underlines how much the listener and Adolf Hitler have in common. Grant even suggests the two should get married.
- Religion Rant Song: "JC Hates Faggots".
- Shout-Out: The song "Sigourney Weaver" references both the Alien franchise and Bram Stoker's Dracula.And I feel just like Sigourney WeaverWhen she had to kill those aliensAnd one guy tried to get them back to the earthAnd she couldn't believe her earsI feel just like Winona RyderIn that movie about vampiresAnd she couldn't get that accent rightNeither could that other guy
- Silly Love Song: "Disappointing".
- Skewed Priorities: "Global Warming" is about "first-world problems", like the global warming of the title ruining a person's fair skin.
- Sophisticated as Hell: The word "callipygian" seen in the above quotation from "Black Belt"? It's Greek for "having a nice butt".
- Superheroes Wear Tights: The video for "Chicken Bones"
has Grant as a Wonder Bread-inspired superhero. - Terrible Pickup Lines: "Snug Slacks" is four minutes of John awkwardly trying to hit on a younger man.
- Three Minutes of Writhing: The video for "Disappointing" is a gender-inverted version of this, since it is set in a gay sauna. However, John is fully clothed throughout.
- Villain Song: "That's The Good News," sung in a creepy German accent.
- When He Smiles: ...it's the most beautiful thing in the world, according to "Disappointing".
