Murray A. Lightburn is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist and principal songwriter for

The Dears The Dears are a Canadian indie rock band from Montreal, Quebec. The band is led by the husband-and-wife duo of singer-guitarist Murray Lightburn and keyboardist Natalia Yanchak. History The band formed in 1995 and released their first album, ...

. Lightburn has been called "the black

Morrissey Steven Patrick Morrissey (; born 22 May 1959), known professionally as Morrissey, is an English singer and songwriter. He came to prominence as the frontman and lyricist of rock band the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. Since then ...

" due to his vocal similarity (and shared penchant for somewhat dark lyrics) to the former

The Smiths The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. They comprised the singer Morrissey, the guitarist Johnny Marr, the bassist Andy Rourke and the drummer Mike Joyce. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerg ...

lead singer. Incidentally, The Dears toured as Morrissey's opening act during Morrissey's solo tour in 2006. In 2013 he released the solo album ''Mass: Light''. His second solo album, ''Hear Me Out'', was released in 2019.

Discography

Studio albums

* 2013 - ''Murray A. Lightburn's MASS:LIGHT'' * 2019 - ''Hear Me Out'' * 2023 - ''Once Upon A Time in Montréal''

Singles

* 2018 ''Belleville Blues''

Personal life

In 2005, Lightburn married fellow band member, keyboardist/singer

Natalia Yanchak Natalia Yanchak is a Canadian musician who plays keyboards and sings in The Dears. She is also a blogger and speculative fiction and science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction ...

."Never Destroy Us: An Interview with Natalia Yanchak of the Dears"
''

PopMatters ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'', March 22, 2011. They have two children named Neptune and Apollo Lightburn.

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 21st-century Black Canadian male singers Canadian rock singers Canadian songwriters Canadian indie rock musicians {{Canada-singer-stub