About Crowded House
Crowded House are a New Zealand–Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne, Australia, in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn and Australians Paul Hester and Nick Seymour . Later band members included Finn's brother Tim, who was in their former band Split Enz; sons Liam and Elroy; as well as Americans Mark Hart and Matt Sherrod. Neil Finn and Seymour are the sole constant members.
Originally active from 1985 to 1996, Crowded House had consistent commercial and critical success in Australia and New Zealand. They achieved success in the United States with their self-titled debut album, which provided the Top Ten hits "Don't Dream It's Over" and "Something So Strong". Further international success came in the UK, Europe, and South Africa in the early 1990s with their third and fourth albums and the compilation album Recurring Dream, which included the hits "Fall at Your Feet", "Weather with You", "Distant Sun", "Locked Out", "Instinct", and "Not the Girl You Think You Are". Neil and Tim Finn were each awarded an OBE in June 1993 for their contributions to the music of New Zealand.
Crowded House disbanded in 1996 following several farewell concerts that year, including the "Farewell to the World" concerts in Melbourne and Sydney. Hester died by suicide in 2005. A year later, the group re-formed with drummer Matt Sherrod and released two further albums , each of which reached number one in Australia. The band went on another hiatus, and reunited in 2020 with a new line-up featuring Neil Finn, Nick Seymour, Mitchell Froom, and Finn's sons Liam and Elroy. Their most recent album, Gravity Stairs, was released in 2024.
As of 2021, Crowded House have sold over 15 million albums worldwide. In November 2016, the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.
Neil Finn and drummer Paul Hester were former members of New Zealand band Split Enz, which spent part of 1975–6 in Australia and several years in England. Neil Finn is the younger brother of Split Enz founding member Tim Finn, who joined Crowded House in 1990 on vocals, guitars, and keyboards for the album Woodface. Bassist Nick Seymour is the younger brother of singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour of Australian rock group Hunters & Collectors.
Finn and Hester decided to form a new band during the first Split Enz farewell tour, "Enz with a Bang", in late 1984. Seymour approached Finn during the after party for the Melbourne show and asked if he could audition for the new band. The Mullanes formed in Melbourne in early 1985 with Finn, Hester, Seymour, and guitarist Craig Hooper and first performed on 11 June. They secured a record contract with Capitol Records, but Hooper left the band before the remaining trio moved to Los Angeles to record their debut album.
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