Snow Patrol is a British alternative rock band from Northern Ireland and Scotland. It consists of Gary Lightbody (vocals and guitar), Jonny Quinn (drums), Nathan Connolly (guitar), Paul Wilson (bass) and Johnny McDaid (keyboards, guitar).
After two albums where the band remains in total anonymity, it breaks with Final Straw in 2003 which ranks 3> of the album sales rankings in the United Kingdom. The band's next albums, Eyes Open (2006, No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart) and A Hundred Million Suns (2008, No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart) materialize the group's success around the world, making Snow Patrol one of the major groups of the British rock scene of the 2000s. In 2011, the band released Fallen Empires, his sixth studio album. The band has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide.
Originally called Shrug, the group was formed in 1994 by guitarist and singer / songwriter Gary Lightbody, bassist Mark McClelland and drummer Michael Morrison, all three Northern Irish, while they were freshmen at the university. University of Dundee (Scotland). They self-publish in January 1995 their first EP, entitled The Yogurt vs. Yogurt Debate . Due to legal considerations, the group has to change its name in 1996 because an American group has the same name. The band is renamed Polarbear>. Shortly after, Morrison leaves the group to return to Northern Ireland. In June 1997, the group released a second EP, Starfighter Pilot , the drums being provided by Richard Colburn, the drummer of the group Belle and Sebastian. Shortly thereafter, Jonny Quinn, also from Northern Ireland, joins the band as a permanent drummer.
The band has to be renamed again because an American group, led by Eric Avery, the former bassist of Jane's Addiction, is already known as Polar Bear. This is how they adopt the name Snow Patrol>. The band signs with the independent label Jeepster Records, with whom already signed Belle and Sebastian>. The band's first album, Songs for Polarbears, was released in August 1998. It is noted by the critics but has very little commercial success. In 1999, the group is close to signing a successful contract for an advertisement for Philips but the group Gomez is finally chosen in its place. In March 2001, the band releases its second album, When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up, but this one knows the same fate as the first, good reviews but low sales.
