London, UK · synth-pop · industrial

Gary Numan

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The man who made synthesisers sound alien, then spent his second act making them sound industrial — 'Cars' to Nine Inch Nails gravity, one career.

Born Gary Anthony James Webb in Hammersmith, London, Numan came out of the British punk scene fronting Tubeway Army, a band that included his uncle Jess Lidyard on drums and Paul Gardiner on bass, signed to Beggars Banquet Records. He later turned to synthesisers, a shift that produced the UK number-one album Replicas and its chart-topping single "Are 'Friends' Electric?" at the end of the 1970s.

His debut solo album, The Pleasure Principle, also reached number one and gave him another UK chart-topping single in "Cars." These records paired cold, mechanical keyboard textures with detached vocals and science-fiction imagery, delivered through an androgynous, android-like stage persona that was widely imitated across new wave and synth-pop.

Numan's signature sound ran heavy synthesiser hooks through guitar effects pedals, a technical approach that helped mark him out as a pioneer of electronic music. He has sold more than ten million records over his career.

After a period out of fashion, he rebuilt his sound around industrial rock in the 1990s and 2000s, with darker production and heavier guitars replacing the earlier synth-pop clarity. Trent Reznor, Marilyn Manson and numerous electronic producers have cited him as a direct influence, and he received the Ivor Novello Inspiration Award in 2017. He continues releasing albums and touring, performing his older material within that harsher framework.

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synth-popindustrial