Oliver Sykes

Oliver Scott Sykes (born 20 November 1986) is a British singer and songwriter, best known as the lead vocalist and primary lyricist of the rock band Bring Me the Horizon.

He also founded the apparel company Drop Dead Clothing, and created a graphic novel.

Sykes was born on 20 November 1986, in Ashford, Kent, England.

As an infant, he moved to Australia with his parents, Ian and Carol Sykes, moving between Adelaide and Perth during a period of about six years.

The family returned to the United Kingdom when Sykes was about eight, settling in Stocksbridge in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

As a teenager, he attended Stocksbridge High School then Barnsley College.

In early 2000, while still in school, he began crafting compilation CDs and short tracks under the name Quakebeat.

He also played in the mock hip-hop band "Womb 2 Da Tomb" with his brother Tom Sykes and fellow Bring Me the Horizon member Matt Nicholls, and in metal band "Purple Curto" with Neil Whiteley, as the drummer/vocalist under the pseudonym "Olisaurus", which he would later use when releasing solo material.

Sykes became a vegetarian in 2003 at age 16 after watching a documentary about animal cruelty online, "When I saw how animals are tortured on factory farms, I couldn't justify being a part of that cruelty."

He went on to become one of the faces for PETA, eventually designing charity T-shirts with the slogan "Meat Sucks" via his Drop Dead Clothing line.

He turned vegetarian at age 16 before turning vegan 15 years later.

In 2004, Sykes formed Bring Me the Horizon.

The band released their debut EP This Is What the Edge of Your Seat Was Made For in 2004, then releasing their debut album, Count Your Blessings in 2006.

In 2006, when asked about the lyrics of Count Your Blessings, as they had been criticised for their content fixated on heartbreak or other themes that were called "shallow and meaningless", he responded "My life's never been that bad so I've not got that much to talk about".

The main character of the French feature film A Taste of Ink is an admirer of Oliver Sykes and Bring Me the Horizon.

He is a post-hardcore singer and wears as a tribute to Oliver Sykes a Michael Jordan Black jersey.

The French title Compte tes blessures is inspired by the first album of the band Count Your Blessings.

Since the age of 12, Sykes has suffered from a form of night terrors known as sleep paralysis, which is the inability to move or speak while falling asleep, or upon waking.

Their second album, Suicide Season, was released on 29 September 2008, and their third studio album There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It. There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret. on 4 October 2010.

They released their fourth studio album Sempiternal on 1 April 2013 which features the new member Jordan Fish and Sykes playing rhythm guitar for the album.

On 1 February 2013, Sykes launched a Kickstarter project to fund a graphic novel created by him and Drop Dead Clothing artist Ben Ashton-Bell, entitled Raised by Raptors.

With a £15,000 goal, the project exceeded its target within weeks of launching, attaining a final total of £39,223.

Sykes has cited Pantera, Black Flag, Misfits, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Every Time I Die, Skycamefalling, Poison the Well, Norma Jean and The Dillinger Escape Plan as influences.

Sykes' lyrics have a strong feeling of catharsis for him.

He mainly draws from personal experience and has likened the band's live performances to being therapeutic.

They released their fifth studio album That's the Spirit on 11 September 2015, and their sixth album Amo on 25 January 2019.

In 2017, Sykes featured as guest vocalist in the song "Silence Speaks" with English metalcore band While She Sleeps.

Sykes was briefly featured in the music video for Charli XCX's song "Boys" along with other artists such as Brendon Urie, Denzel Curry, Charlie Puth and Stormzy.

Sykes has also collaborated with DJ Skrillex as the backing vocals of a Bring Me the Horizon song "Visions" off the Bring Me the Horizon album ''There Is a Hell Believe Me I've Seen It.

There Is a Heaven Let's Keep It a Secret.''.

Skrillex has also remixed a Bring Me the Horizon song "The Sadness Will Never End" off Suicide Season which the remix was featured on the Cut Up! version of the album.

On 27 October 2017, Sykes performed with Linkin Park – who he claims were his first ever concert as a teenager – at Linkin Park and Friends: Celebrate Life in Honor of Chester Bennington.

He performed the song "Crawling" with DJ and record producer Zedd on percussion.

In addition to his vocal and songwriting contributions in Bring Me the Horizon, Sykes is also the founder and owner of the alternative clothing line Drop Dead Clothing (stylized as DROP DEAD).

His passion for veganism can be seen in his venture 'Church', an arcade bar with a fully vegan menu, opened in 2018 and based in Sheffield's Kelham Island.

Sykes is an outspoken atheist, stating "I don't believe in God. I was asked to believe in him when I was in a shitty place. I couldn't understand why I needed a god or, in my opinion, something that doesn't exist."

On 27 December 2019, they released their commercial release Music to Listen To....

On 30 October 2020, they released another commercial release, Post Human: Survival Horror.

Sykes has been featured in songs for the bands You Me at Six's "Bite My Tongue", Architects' "Even If You Win, You're Still a Rat", Admiral's Arms' "Dawn of the New Age" and Deez Nuts' "If You Don't Know, You Know Now".

He is also featured on a music video of American rock band A Day to Remember's "All I Want".