Hannah Felicity May Reid /ref> (born 30 December 1989) is the English lead singer, keyboardist and songwriter of the
indie pop
Indie pop (also typeset as indie-pop or indiepop) is a music genre and subculture that combines guitar pop with DIY ethic in opposition to the style and tone of mainstream pop music. It originated from British post-punk in the late 1970s and su ...
band
London Grammar
London Grammar are an English indie pop band formed in Nottingham in 2009. The band consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major. Their debut extended play, '' Metal & Dust'', was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust R ...
.
Biography
Reid grew up in Acton, and went to school in
West London
West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary.
The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North Londo ...
. She received vocal training, and wanted to pursue psychoanalysis as a career, working as a hairdresser and in a bar, before going to university. She was initially planning to pursue acting after earning a drama scholarship. Reid was studying art history and English at the
University of Nottingham
, mottoeng = A city is built on wisdom
, established = 1798 – teacher training college1881 – University College Nottingham1948 – university status
, type = Public
, chancellor ...
where she met guitarist Dan Rothman in a residence hall. Together with Rothman and Dominic 'Dot' Major, she started the band
London Grammar
London Grammar are an English indie pop band formed in Nottingham in 2009. The band consists of Hannah Reid, Dan Rothman and Dominic “Dot” Major. Their debut extended play, '' Metal & Dust'', was released in February 2013 by Metal & Dust R ...
in 2009.
Hannah's battle with stage fright has been widely reported; in an interview she said about being on stage “(...)sometimes the nerves don't lift at all, and I just feel horrible, and panicky throughout.” To help combat this phobia, she started practising
Emotional Freedom Technique
Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) is a form of counseling intervention that stimulates acupressure points by pressuring, tapping, or rubbing these points while focusing on situations that represent personal fear or traumata. EFT draws on var ...
(EFT). She was caught in the middle of a Twitter polemic after the Radio 1 Breakfast Show sent out a sexist tweet about her appearance. Reid is also known for her expansive
vocal range
Vocal range is the range of pitches that a human voice can phonate. A common application is within the context of singing, where it is used as a defining characteristic for classifying singing voices into voice types. It is also a topic of st ...
and emotive
contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typica ...