Billy Bragg

Ex-punk, ex-soldier, and ex-member of the Labour Party, Billy Bragg rose from working class origins in the 1980s to become one of the UK’s foremost pop and protest singers and left-wing icons. It was Margaret Thatcher who propelled the bard of Barking into action; Bragg’s defining political moment came with the Miners’ Strike of 1984-5, when the Conservative government set out to lay waste to Britain’s industrial heartlands, crippling communities and livelihoods in the process. Bragg became a fixture at political rallies and benefits, particularly during the Strike, with his powerful pro-union songs including Which Side Are You On, There Is Power In A Union and the EP title track Between The Wars.

A rebel in every sense, Bragg is best-known for his passionately political lyrics, but also admired for his offbeat love songs. This unique man continues to prove that music still has something to say about political causes, and, thank goodness, has a sense of humour. Billy Bragg’s life encapsulates so much about his generation: born in the 50’s with politics shaped by Thatcherism, passions forged by punk and hope provided by the end of the cold war. Yet he is also unique: Billy is a British institution that will never go out of fashion – a peerless entertainer, fearless campaigner, much-loved maverick and idiosyncratic icon of leftfield pop.