Crowded House

For other uses, see Crowded House (disambiguation).

Crowded House
Five men are standing close together on a stage and smiling. First male at left is bearded and has right arm raised to shoulder height. Second male has arms around shoulders of his neighbours and is partly obscured by a microphone stand. Third male has left hand raised overhead. Fourth male has arms at side and is looking to his left. Fifth male has right arm over his neighbour and left arm overhead. Last two are partly obscured by a keyboard and its stand. Behind the five men is more band equipment and the background contains considerable English text.
Crowded House, August 2007 (L–R)
Liam Finn, Matt Sherrod, Mark Hart, Neil Finn, Nick Seymour
Background information
Also known asThe Mullanes (1985)
OriginMelbourne, Victoria, Australia
Genres
Years active
  • 1985–1996
  • 2006–2011
  • 2016
  • 2019–present
Labels
Spinoffs
Spinoff ofSplit Enz
Members
Past members
Websitecrowdedhouse.com

Crowded House are a New Zealand-Australian rock band, formed in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia,[1] in 1985. Its founding members were New Zealander Neil Finn (vocalist, guitarist, primary songwriter) and Australians Paul Hester (drums) and Nick Seymour (bass). 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.[2][3] 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.[4][5][6] 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".[7][8] Further international success came in the UK, Europe, and South Africa in the early 1990s with their third and fourth albums (Woodface and Together Alone) 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".[9][10] Neil and Tim Finn were each awarded an OBE in June 1993 for their contributions to the music of New Zealand.[11]

Crowded House disbanded in 1996 following several farewell concerts that year, including the "Farewell to the World" concerts in Melbourne and Sydney.[2][9][12] Hester died by suicide in 2005.[13] A year later, the group re-formed with drummer Matt Sherrod and released two further albums (Time on Earth and Intriguer), each of which reached number one in Australia.[5] 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.[14] Their most recent album, Gravity Stairs, was released in 2024.

As of 2021, Crowded House have sold over 15 million albums worldwide.[15] In November 2016, the band was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame.[16]

  1. ^ "Strewth – Crowded House an Aussie band, says Finn". The New Zealand Herald. 23 October 2006. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
  2. ^ a b McFarlane (1999)
  3. ^ "Neil Finn and Nick Seymour" Archived 17 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine Australian Broadcasting Corporation – 16 July 2007
  4. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book Ltd. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. (NOTE: Used for Australian Singles and Albums charts from 1974 until ARIA created their own charts in mid-1988. In 1992, Kent back calculated chart positions for 1970–1974)
  5. ^ a b "Discography Crowded House" australiancharts.com
  6. ^ "Discography Crowded House" charts.org.nz
  7. ^ "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles" AllMusic
  8. ^ "Crowded House > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums" AllMusic
  9. ^ a b Bourke (1997)
  10. ^ "Artists > Crowded House" Official Charts
  11. ^ Hunkin, Joanna (3 May 2007). "Finn 'sick' of PM grabbing music glory". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 26 September 2011.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference linernotes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Bernard Zuel, Nassim Khadem, Patrick Donovan, James Button "Farewell to the clown prince" The Sydney Morning Herald – 29 March 2005
  14. ^ "Crowded House reunite for 2020 UK tour". UNCUT. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2020.
  15. ^ Ferris, Rina; Brennan, Kristyn; Davies, Ferris (22 July 2010). "ARIA #1 Chart Awards Are a Family Affair!" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 28 October 2016.
  16. ^ "Crowded House to enter ARIA Hall Of Fame". – AAP. Sydney Morning Herald. 5 September 2016. Retrieved 5 September 2016.