Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Cocker

Jarvis Cocker is an English singer, songwriter and musician from Sheffield, United Kingdom, born in 1963. He is best known as the founder, lead vocalist and principal lyricist of Pulp, and he remains the group’s only constant member. He becomes closely associated with the Britpop movement in the mid-1990s.

Background and early life

Cocker is born and raised in Sheffield and attends City School. His father, Mac Cocker, works as a DJ and actor and moves to Sydney, Australia when Jarvis is seven. After that, Cocker and his sister Saskia are raised by their mother, Christine Connolly, who later serves as a Conservative councillor. In the 1970s and 1980s, Mac Cocker works as a radio DJ in Sydney at Double J, later renamed Triple J. Cocker later refers to his father’s absence in the Pulp song “A Little Soul”, from This Is Hardcore. In 1998, he and his sister travel to Australia and meet their father again for the first time in nearly thirty years; Cocker later says that he forgives him. His father dies in 2016.

Work with Pulp and other projects

Alongside Pulp, Cocker releases solo music and presents the BBC Radio 6 Music programme Jarvis Cocker’s Sunday Service for seven years. His solo studio albums include Jarvis, Further Complications, Room 29, Beyond the Pale, Chansons d’Ennui Tip-Top, and This Is Going to Hurt (Original Soundtrack).

Later life and associations

During much of the 1980s, Cocker lives on unemployment benefits and at one point stays in a disused factory building. In his twenties, he also spends time squatting in London. He is associated with a number of other acts and projects, including Relaxed Muscle, JARV IS…, Fish and Breadcake, Gauchos Calientes, The Chocolate Layers, and Parrot and Cocker Too. His work is also associated with britpop and with labels including Island Records Ltd. and Warner/Chappell Music Ltd.