Gossip (or The Gossip) was an American indie rock band formed in

Searcy, Arkansas Searcy ( ) is the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2019 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 23,767. It is the principal city of the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area ...

, originally active from 1999 until 2016. For most of their career, the band consisted of singer Beth Ditto, multi-instrumentalist Brace Paine, and drummer

Hannah Blilie Hannah Blilie is the drummer of the American R&B band Chanti Darling and formerly Gossip and Shoplifting. She has also performed with Sarah Dougher, Chromatics, Stiletto, Mr Yuk, The Lumpies, Vade, The Vogue, and Soiled Doves. Her twin broth ...

. After releasing several recordings, the band broke through with their 2006 studio album, ''

Standing in the Way of Control ''Standing in the Way of Control'' is the third studio album by American indie rock band Gossip, which was released on January 24, 2006. The album was produced by Guy Picciotto and Ryan Hadlock It reached number 1 on the UK indie chart and also ...

''. A follow-up, '' Music for Men'', was released in 2009. The band played a mix of

post-punk revival Post-punk revival (also known as garage rock revival,J. Stuessy and S. D. Lipscomb, ''Rock and roll: its History and Stylistic Development'' (London: Pearson Prentice Hall, 5th edn., 2006), , p. 451. new wave revival,. and new rock revolution) is ...

, indie rock, and dance-rock. Their last album, '' A Joyful Noise'', was released in May 2012.

History

Formation and early history

Gossip was formed in 1999 in Olympia, Washington, by vocalist Beth Ditto, guitarist Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, and drummer Kathy Mendonça. All three were originally from

; Mendonça moved to Olympia to attend Evergreen State College and Howdeshell and Ditto followed. Howdeshell and Mendonça had been in bands together in Arkansas. Gossip coalesced when the three members were roommates in Olympia. In 1999, the

independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...

K Records released Gossip's first recording, their debut EP ''The Gossip'', to coincide with the band's tour with Sleater-Kinney. Gossip played at the first Ladyfest in Olympia in August 2000 and was included in '' Time'' magazine's article on the festival. Their next record was the debut studio album '' That's Not What I Heard'', released by the label Kill Rock Stars on January 23, 2001. They followed it with the EP ''Arkansas Heat'' on May 7, 2002. ''

Movement Movement may refer to: Common uses * Movement (clockwork), the internal mechanism of a timepiece * Motion, commonly referred to as movement Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * "Movement" (short story), a short story by Nancy Fu ...

'', their second studio album, was released on May 6, 2003. In November 2003, two months after the release of their first live album '' Undead in NYC'' on September 9, drummer Kathy Mendonça left the band to pursue a career as a midwife. Established punk drummer

joined to replace her. The band then dropped "The" from their name, continuing as plain "Gossip". The first release featuring new drummer Hannah Blilie was the band's next album, ''

''. It was released on January 24, 2006, on Kill Rock Stars and later in 2006 on UK independent label Back Yard Recordings. The record was produced by Ryan Hadlock, owner of Bear Creek Studio, and

Fugazi Fugazi (; ) is an American post-hardcore band that formed in Washington, D.C., in 1986. The band consists of guitarists and vocalists Ian MacKaye and Guy Picciotto, bassist Joe Lally, and drummer Brendan Canty. They are noted for their style-tr ...

singer/guitarist Guy Picciotto.

2007–2011: Mainstream success and moving to a major label

The album ''Standing in the Way of Control'' has earned Gold Record Status in the UK. Gossip's first UK TV appearance was on BBC1's '' Friday Night With Jonathan Ross'', where they performed the title track "

". As reported on '' Pitchfork'' in March 2007, the group signed to Music With a Twist, a subsidiary of Sony Music Label Group, concentrating on LGBT music acts. During the summer of 2007, Gossip was a part of the multi-artist

True Colors Tour 2007 True Colors was an annual music event created by American recording artist Cyndi Lauper. The concerts were headlined by Lauper and featured various music and comedy acts. Beginning in 2007, the trek supported the Human Rights Campaign, Parents, F ...

, which traveled through 15 cities in the United States and Canada. Hosted by comedian Margaret Cho and headlined by Cyndi Lauper, the tour also included

Debbie Harry Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble; July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1981. Born in ...

, Erasure, Rufus Wainwright, The Dresden Dolls,

The MisShapes The Misshapes are a New York City-based DJ duo composed of DJs Leigh Lezark, and Geordon Nicol. Previously the group consisted of Leigh Lezark, Geordon Nicol and Greg Krelenstein. Group history Night club years, 2003–2008 Leigh Lezark met ...

The Cliks ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and special guests. Profits from the tour went to benefit the

Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign (HRC) is an American LGBTQ advocacy group. It is the largest LGBTQ political lobbying organization within the United States. Based in Washington, D.C., the organization focuses on protecting and expanding rights for LGB ...

. Gossip is based in

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 and has played with bands such as Sleater-Kinney, Le Tigre,

CSS Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) is a style sheet language used for describing the presentation of a document written in a markup language such as HTML or XML (including XML dialects such as SVG, MathML or XHTML). CSS is a cornerstone techno ...

, Erase Errata, Mika Miko, Panther, Comanechi, and Mates of State. They also opened for Scissor Sisters on three dates of their November 2006 tour. On June 24, 2007, Gossip closed the

Glastonbury Festival Glastonbury Festival (formally Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts and known colloquially as Glasto) is a five-day festival of contemporary performing arts that takes place in Pilton, Somerset, England. In addition to contemp ...

, playing the final set on the John Peel stage during which Ditto gave a tribute to the late

John Peel John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...

. The band also performed the following year, on the Pyramid Stage. Gossip launched their ''Live in Liverpool'' album in the UK and the U.S. in April 2008. The album was produced by Rick Rubin and also features a DVD of their live performance. A new studio album called '' Music For Men'' was released in June 2009. The first single from the album, " Heavy Cross", was especially successful in Germany where it was certified triple gold for selling over 450,000 copies, and was mentioned as the "most successful internationally produced single" of all time in September 2010. In January 2011 the single broke the German record for the longest-selling track in chart history. By January 14, 2011, it had spent 82 consecutive weeks on the German Top 100.

2012–2016: ''A Joyful Noise'', split

On March 12, 2012, the band's comeback single, " Perfect World", was unveiled on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show. Their fifth studio album, '' A Joyful Noise'', produced by Xenomania's Brian Higgins, was released in late May. The band's music had evolved and become poppier. Andy Gill, writing in '' The Independent'', welcomed the result, whereas ''Pitchfork'' review was more negative. A second single, "

Move in the Right Direction "Move in the Right Direction" is a song by American indie rock band Gossip, released as the second single from their fifth studio album, ''A Joyful Noise'' (2012). The song found some success in Europe, reaching number two in Poland and number thr ...

", was issued in May. During the summer, the band headlined various festivals. In an interview with ''Pitchfork'' in February 2016, Ditto confirmed the split of Gossip. She stated that she intended to focus on her clothing line and music as a solo artist.

2019–2020: Tenth anniversary tour

In March 2019, Ditto announced the band's return with a show in late July 2019 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of ''Music for Men''. This later expanded into a world tour. The band played their final show of the tour at Rote Fabrik in Zurich, Switzerland on August 19, 2019. In October 2020, Ditto shared a photo to her Instagram page of herself with Paine and Mendonça in the studio together. , however, no recordings have been shared from this session.

Musical style

The band's style has been described as "a soul or gospel" voice with "a sort of funky punk soundtrack". Members of Gossip have stated a liking for rock bands like Birthday Party,

Siouxsie and the Banshees Siouxsie and the Banshees were a British rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. They have been widely influential, both over their contemporaries and with later acts. ''Q'' magazine in ...

,Fitzmaurice, Larry
"Gossip Q&A"
. Spin.com. April 28, 2009. Q&A: Gossip. Excerpt: "What bands influenced the new album's sound? Everything from the Birthday Party to house music and Siouxsie and the Banshees."Videtti, Giuseppe

''repubblica.it''. March 26, 2011. Retrieved July 13, 2012. "At 18 I discovered Nirvana, Pearl Jam, The Raincoats and Siouxsie and the Banshees. The mainstream" Nirvana, and The Raincoats, but also for other genres such as

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

and hip hop.

Band members

Final lineup

* Beth Ditto – vocals, piano (1999–2016, 2019–2020) * Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell – guitar, bass, keyboards (1999–2016, 2019–2020) *

– drums (2004–2016, 2019)

Former members

* Kathy Mendonça – drums (1999–2003, 2020)

Touring musicians

* Christopher Sutton – bass (2009–2013, 2019–2020) * Gregg Foreman – keyboards (2012–2013, 2019–2020)

Discography

* '' That's Not What I Heard'' (2001) * ''

'' (2003) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Music for Men'' (2009) * '' A Joyful Noise'' (2012)

Awards

* 2010: nominated for a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Music Artist" for their album ''Music for Men'' during the

21st GLAAD Media Awards The 21st GLAAD Media Awards was the 2010 annual presentation of the media awards presented by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. The awards seek to honor films, television shows, musicians and works of journalism that fairly and accur ...

. * June 18, 2012, the single "Move in the Right Direction" was named BBC Radio 2's Record of The Week. ECHO Awards , - , rowspan="3" , 2010 , " Heavy Cross" , Best International Hit , , - , rowspan="3" , Themselves , Best International Newcomer , , - , rowspan="2" , Best International Group , , - , 2012 , Hungarian Music Awards , - , 2010 , '' Music for Men'' , rowspan="2", Alternative Music Album of the Year , , - , 2013 , '' A Joyful Noise'' , Mojo Awards , - , 2007 , "

" , Song of the Year , MTV Europe Music Awards , - ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, Themselves , Best Alternative , PLUG Awards , - , 2007 , "

" , Song of the Year , Žebřík Music Awards !Ref. , - , 2009 , Themselves , Best International Discovery , ,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gossip, The Dance-punk musical groups Beth Ditto Indie rock musical groups from Washington (state) Kill Rock Stars LGBT-themed musical groups Musical groups from Portland, Oregon Musical groups from Olympia, Washington Musical groups established in 1999 Musical groups disestablished in 2016 Musical groups reestablished in 2019 1999 establishments in Arkansas Female-fronted musical groups