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Snow Patrol (formed 1994)
Snow Patrol is a Northern Irish band, though they are based in Glasgow, having formed the band in Dundee. The mainstream rock / pop band are signed to Polydor Records.
Snow Patrol: Formation
In 1994, Gary Lightbody formed a band called Shrug, with Mark McLelland whilst studying at the University of Dundee in Scotland. In 1995, the band changed its name to Polar Bear and then later changed it again to Snow Patrol.
In 1997, the band released the Starfighter Pilot EP on the Electric Honey label. Richard Colburn and Stuart Murdoch of Belle and Sebastian both appeared on the record.
The next EP, Little Hide was released on Jeepster Records and its follow-up single, 'One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed' was a minor hit in the indie charts for the band. Jeepster also released their first two albums, Songs For Polarbears (1998) and When It's All Over We Still Have To Clear Up (2001).
Snow Patrol: The Breakthrough
Snow Patrol were eventually dropped by Jeepster but later signed to Polydor Records. Their single 'Run' went to number five in the UK singles chart. Their first album for Polydor, Final Straw (2003) peaked at number three.
The follow-up singles to 'Run', 'Chocolate', 'Spitting Games' and 'How To Be Dead' were all Top 40 hits.
The album's release in the United States saw sales over 250,000 units and in 2005 they supported U2 on the Vertigo Tour in Europe. They were also included on the bill at London's leg of the Live 8 concert. The band's cover of John Lennon's 'Isolation' was included on tribute album Instant Karma: the Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur.
Snow Patrol's second album, Eyes Open was released in May 2006. The song 'Chasing Cars' was featured on the hit TV show Gray's Anatomy, greatly helping the band's commercial success. 'Open Your Eyes' was also featured in an episode of ER and 'Tell Me You Love Me' was featured on the popular UK comedy show Gavin and Stacey. 'Signal Fire' was the lead song for the Spider-Man 3 soundtrack.
In 2006, Snow Patrol was the last band ever to feature on the long-running BBC show Top of the Pops.
Eyes Open was crowned the best selling album of 2006, despite fierce competition from Take That and Arctic Monkeys, with sales of 1.6 million.
30th January 2012
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody is auctioning a guitar to raise money for a little girl....
23rd January 2012
Snow Patrol frontman Gary Lightbody wants to tone down his rock 'n' roll lifestyle and become a....
5th January 2012
On the surface, Zooey Deschanel seems to have it all; a successful acting career, coupled with....
31st December 2011
Snow Patrol "sort of knew" R.E.M. were going to split. The 'Chasing Cars' group are close....
30th December 2011
Snow Patrol's Gary Lightbody used to write 30 songs a day before he got writer's block.....
More Snow Patrol Video and Audio
7th February 2012
Having released their sixth studio album last year, Snow Patrol are currently in the midst of a UK arena tour that...
9th March 2009
Review of Snow Patrol live at MEN Arena, Manchester on 07th March 09. Snow Patrol's UK leg of their world...
10th November 2008
Album review of 'A Hundred Million Suns' by Snow Patrol. Northern Ireland rockers Snow Patrol return with...
31st July 2006
As well as the expected festival appearances, Snow Patrol will soon be embarking on an extensive tour of...
8th May 2006
Snow Patrol established themselves as big players in British music, as well as achieving respectable success on the...
These are the best links to Snow Patrol Sites on the web: