Courtney A. Taylor (born July 20, 1967), known as Courtney Taylor-Taylor, is an American singer-songwriter from

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

, Oregon. He is the lead singer and guitarist of

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from Popular culture, mainstre ...

band

The Dandy Warhols The Dandy Warhols are an American alternative rock band, formed in Portland, Oregon, in 1994 by singer-guitarist Courtney Taylor-Taylor and guitarist Peter Holmström. They were later joined by keyboardist Zia McCabe and drummer Eric Hedford ...

, a band he co-founded. Taylor-Taylor has written the majority of the band's songs. Taylor-Taylor has co-written a graphic novel entitled '' One Model Nation'', about a fictional 1970s German

krautrock Krautrock (also called , German for ) is a broad genre of experimental rock Experimental rock, also called avant-rock, is a subgenre of rock music that pushes the boundaries of common composition and performance technique or which experiments ...

band. It was released in 2009. This was accompanied by a studio album titled ''Totalwerks, Vol. 1 (1969–1977)'', a fake

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

by the fictional band, released in 2012.

Early life and education

Taylor-Taylor attended Sunset High School in Beaverton, a suburb of Portland, and studied sociology,

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries betwe ...

and music at

Cascade College Cascade College was a private, four-year, liberal arts college associated with the Churches of Christ. Located in Portland, Oregon, United States, it was a branch campus of Oklahoma Christian University. Its mission was to emphasize spiritua ...

, also in Portland. He recalls sticking out as a teenager: "You don't fit in if you're a make-up-wearing weirdo, surrounded by large, clumsy guys and cheerleaders." He found refuge in the work of

Friedrich Nietzsche Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (; or ; 15 October 1844 – 25 August 1900) was a German philosopher, prose poet, cultural critic, philologist, and composer whose work has exerted a profound influence on contemporary philosophy. He began his ...

and

Kurt Vonnegut Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007) was an American writer known for his satirical and darkly humorous novels. In a career spanning over 50 years, he published fourteen novels, three short-story collections, five plays, and ...

. It was there that he met future bandmate

Peter Holmström Peter Holmström is an American rock musician. He is a member of the bands The Dandy Warhols, Pete International Airport, Radis Noir and Rebel Drones. Holmström's first guitar was a Gibson SG. Holmström is also an amateur photographer, and in ...

. After graduating, Taylor-Taylor worked as a mechanic while playing drums for local band Nero's Rome. He was also the drummer in the Portland-based

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

/pop band The Beauty Stab.

Career

Music career

Taylor-Taylor appears in and narrates the film '' Dig!'', a documentary chronicling the early years of the relationship between his band, The Dandy Warhols, and

The Brian Jonestown Massacre The Brian Jonestown Massacre is an American musical project and band led and started by Anton Newcombe. It was formed in San Francisco in 1990. The group was the subject of the 2004 documentary film called '' Dig!'', and have gained media noto ...

Non-music career

Taylor-Taylor appeared in an episode of the second season of the TV show ''

Veronica Mars ''Veronica Mars'' is an American teen noir mystery drama television series created by screenwriter Rob Thomas. The series is set in the fictional town of Neptune, California, and stars Kristen Bell as the eponymous character. The series prem ...

'', "Cheatty Cheatty Bang Bang", performing the song "

Love Hurts "Love Hurts" is a song written and composed by the American songwriter Boudleaux Bryant. First recorded by the Everly Brothers in July 1960, the song is most well known from the 1974 international hit version by Scottish hard rock band Nazare ...

". He appeared in the 2009 music documentary film ''The Heart Is a Drum Machine'', as well as a 2011 episode of the Australian music quiz television show '' Spicks and Specks''. Taylor-Taylor was one of the contributors to the book ''

Sex Tips from Rock Stars ''Sex Tips from Rock Stars: In Their Own Words'' is a book by Paul Miles that quotes answers from 23 rock stars to many questions on a broad range of sexual topics. The editors claim that the book is the world's first confessional by rock stars ...

'' by Paul Miles, published by

Omnibus Press Omnibus Press is a publisher of music-related books. It publishes around 30 new titles a year to add to a backlist of over 250 titles currently in print. History Omnibus Press was launched in 1972 as a general non-fiction publisher to complem ...

in July 2010.

Personal life

Like his cousin and bandmate

Brent DeBoer Brent DeBoer is an American singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon. He is in the bands The Dandy Warhols, Immigrant Union, and Fathead and released a solo studio album, ''The Farmer'', in 2010. DeBoer now lives in Melbourne, with his wife Sarah ...

, Taylor-Taylor is of Dutch ancestry. As the chief songwriter for "

Bohemian Like You "Bohemian Like You" is a song by American alternative rock band the Dandy Warhols. The song was written by frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor after seeing a woman pull up in her car to the traffic lights outside his apartment. It was released as the ...

", Taylor-Taylor earned approximately 1.5 million US dollars in royalties for

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

's use of the song in television commercials in the telecommunications company's native United Kingdom (and other territories Vodafone operate in, including Australia and

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

) in late-2001. With part of these earnings, he purchased a quarter-of-a-city block and turned it into a complex with space for recording, film editing, and web design. On December 22, 2007, Taylor-Taylor married long-time girlfriend Lockett Allbritton at the Columbia Gorge Hotel in

Hood River, Oregon The city of Hood River is the seat of Hood River County, Oregon, United States. It is a port on the Columbia River, and is named for the nearby Hood River. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 8,313. It is the only city in Oregon whe ...

. Lockett Taylor is a

yoga Yoga (; sa, योग, lit=yoke' or 'union ) is a group of physical, mental, and spiritual practices or disciplines which originated in ancient India and aim to control (yoke) and still the mind, recognizing a detached witness-consciou ...

practitioner and instructor. On February 1, 2010, she gave birth to their first child, a son, Ajax. Taylor-Taylor has expressed a dislike of politics. Following then-UK Home Secretary

Theresa May Theresa Mary May, Lady May (; née Brasier; born 1 October 1956) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2016 to 2019. She previously served in David Cameron's cab ...

using the song "Bohemian Like You" as she walked away from a conference stage, Taylor-Taylor wrote "I tend to really dislike ANY people who take sides in politics. It is the single greatest contributor to getting nothing done. Fuck “politics”. What a joke."

References

External links

* *
One Model Nation website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor-Taylor, Courtney 1967 births American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock songwriters American rock singers Musicians from Portland, Oregon Living people American people of Dutch descent People from Beaverton, Oregon American alternative rock musicians The Dandy Warhols members Alternative rock guitarists Sunset High School (Beaverton, Oregon) alumni Singer-songwriters from Oregon Guitarists from Oregon 20th-century American guitarists 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters