Kae Tempest (formerly Kate Tempest) is an English spoken word performer, poet, recording artist, novelist and playwright. At the age of 16, Tempest was accepted into the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

. In 2013, he won the

Ted Hughes Award The Ted Hughes Award was an annual literary prize given to a living UK poet for new work in poetry. It was awarded each spring in recognition of a work from the previous year. It was a project which ran alongside Carol Ann Duffy's tenure as Poet ...

for his work ''Brand New Ancients''. They were named a Next Generation Poet by the Poetry Book Society, a once-a-decade accolade. Tempest's albums '' Everybody Down'' and '' Let Them Eat Chaos'' have been nominated for the

Mercury Music Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual Music award, music prize awarded for the best album released by a musical act from the Music of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom or Music of Ireland, Ireland. It was cre ...

. The latter's accompanying poetry book (also titled ''Let Them Eat Chaos'') was nominated for the Costa Book of the Year in the Poetry Category. Their

debut novel A debut novel is the first novel a novelist publishes. Debut novels are often the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to pu ...

''The Bricks That Built the Houses'' was a ''Sunday Times'' best-seller and won the 2017 Books Are My Bag Readers Award for Breakthrough Author. They were nominated as Best Female Solo Performer at the 2018 Brit Awards. Tempest

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBTQ people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. This is often framed and debated as a privacy issue, ...

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

in 2020, using pronouns they/them. By 2025, Tempest had come out as a

trans man A trans man or transgender man is a man who was assigned female at birth. Trans men have a male gender identity, and many trans men undergo medical and social transition to alter their appearance in a way that aligns with their gender identi ...

, using

he/him In Modern English, ''he'' is a singular, masculine, third-person pronoun. Morphology In Standard Modern English, ''he'' has four shapes representing five distinct word forms: * ''he'': the nominative (subjective) form * ''him'': the accu ...

pronouns.

Personal life

Kae Tempest grew up in

Brockley Brockley is a district and an wards of the United Kingdom, electoral ward of south London, England, in the London Borough of Lewisham south-east of Charing Cross. It has been named the best area of London to live in. It is an area rich in Vi ...

, South East London, one of five children whose father was a corporate media lawyer, and their mother a teacher. Tempest worked in a record shop from age 14 to 18. They went to Thomas Tallis School, leaving at 16 to study at the

BRIT School BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, ...

for Performing Arts and Technology in

, going on to graduate in English Literature from

Goldsmiths, University of London Goldsmiths, University of London, formerly Goldsmiths College, University of London, is a constituent research university of the University of London. It was originally founded in 1891 as The Goldsmiths' Technical and Recreative Institute by ...

. Tempest first performed at 16, at open mic nights at Deal Real, a small hip-hop store in

Carnaby Street Carnaby Street is a Pedestrian zone, pedestrianised shopping street in Soho in the City of Westminster, Central London. Close to Oxford Street and Regent Street, it is home to fashion and lifestyle retailers, including many independent fashion ...

in London's West End. They went on to support acts such as

John Cooper Clarke John Cooper Clarke (born 25 January 1949) is an English performance poet and comedian who styled himself as a "punk poet" in the late 1970s. In the 1970s and early 1980s, he released several albums and performed on stage with punk and post-punk ...

Billy Bragg Stephen William Bragg (born 20 December 1957) is an English singer, songwriter, musician, author and political activist. His music blends elements of folk music, punk rock and protest songs, with lyrics that mostly span political or romantic th ...

and

Benjamin Zephaniah Benjamin Obadiah Iqbal Zephaniah (15 April 1958 – 7 December 2023) was a British writer, dub poet, actor, musician and professor of poetry and creative writing. Over his lifetime, he was awarded 20 honorary doctorates in recognition of his c ...

. Tempest toured internationally with their band Sound of Rum until the band disbanded in 2012 before being commissioned to write their first play, ''Wasted''. In August 2020, Tempest came out as non-binary, began using they/them pronouns, and changed their name to Kae. KateTempestTreefort2017

Career

In 2013, Tempest released their first poetry book ''Everything Speaks in its Own Way'', a limited edition run on their own imprint, Zingaro. At 26, they launched the theatrical spoken word piece ''Brand New Ancients'' at the

Battersea Arts Centre The Battersea Arts Centre ("BAC") is a performance space specialising in Theater, theatre productions. Located near Clapham Junction railway station in Battersea, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, it was formerly Battersea Town Hall. It is a ...

(2012), to great critical acclaim. The piece also won Tempest the Herald Angel and The Ted Hughes Prize. Some of Tempest's influences include

Christopher Logue Christopher Logue, CBE (23 November 1926 – 2 December 2011)Mark EspineObituary: Christopher Logue ''The Guardian'', 2 December 2011 was an English poet associated with the British Poetry Revival, and a pacifist. Life Born in Portsmouth, ...

(their "favourite poet"),

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish writer of novels, plays, short stories, and poems. Writing in both English and French, his literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal, and Tragicomedy, tra ...

James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...

W B Yeats William Butler Yeats (, 13 June 186528 January 1939), popularly known as W. B. Yeats, was an Irish poet, dramatist, writer, and literary critic who was one of the foremost figures of 20th-century literature. He was a driving force behind the ...

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake has become a seminal figure in the history of the Romantic poetry, poetry and visual art of the Roma ...

, W H Auden and

Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop collective formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its members include RZA, GZA, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, Masta Killa, and, until his death in 2004, O ...

. In September 2013, their play ''Hopelessly Devoted'' was produced by Paines Plough and premiered at Birmingham Rep Theatre. In 2014, they released the album '' Everybody Down'' (

Big Dada Big Dada is a British Record label#Imprint, independent record label imprint distributed by Ninja Tune. It was started by reputed hip hop journalist Will Ashon in 1997. It is best known for marketing of prominent British hip hop artist Roots Man ...

Ninja Tune Ninja Tune is an independent record label based in London, with a satellite office in Los Angeles. It was founded in 1990 by musicians Matt Black and Jonathan More, known collectively as Coldcut. The label was established as an outlet for Col ...

), which was produced by Dan Carey and was nominated for the 2014 Mercury Prize. Since the release of ''Everybody Down'', Tempest has increased touring as a musician, playing at festivals and headlining shows with their live band which consists of Kwake Bass on drums, Dan Carey on synths and Clare Uchima on keyboards. In October 2014, their first poetry collection for Picador, ''Hold Your Own'', was published. The collection was a commercial and critical success and its release coincided with Tempest being named a Next Generation Poet. Tempest was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2015. In April 2016, their debut novel ''The Bricks That Built The Houses'' was published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

and was a

Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...

Bestseller. It won the Books Are My Bag Best Breakthrough Author Award. In September 2016, it was announced that Tempest would curate the 2017 Brighton Festival. They released the album '' Let Them Eat Chaos'' on 7 October 2016. It debuted at no. 28 on the UK Albums Chart, and was also released in book format (Picador). The album was also nominated for the Mercury Prize, this time in 2017. They were nominated for Best British Female Solo Performer at the 2018 Brit Awards. Tempest's song "People's Faces" was used for the Facebook commercial "We're Never Lost If We Can Find Each Other", created by the agency

Droga5 Droga5 is an advertising agency headquartered in New York City with offices in London, Dublin and Tokyo. It was founded in 2006 by David Droga. History David Droga founded Droga5 in New York City in 2006. Droga said that he named the agency a ...

, and released on 9 April 2020. ''Paradise,'' Tempest's modern adaptation of Sophocles' Greek Classic, ''

Philoctetes Philoctetes ( ''Philoktētēs''; , ), or Philocthetes, according to Greek mythology, was the son of Poeas, king of Meliboea (Magnesia), Meliboea in Thessaly, and Demonassa or Methone (Greek myth), Methone. He was a Greek hero, famed as an archer ...

'', premiered at the National Theatre from 4 August - 11 September 2021. The all-female cast, featuring Lesley Sharp, was directed by

Ian Rickson Ian David Rickson (born 1963) is a British theatre director. He was the artistic director at the Royal Court Theatre in London from 1998 to 2006.

and performed in the Olivier Theatre.

Politics

In November 2019, along with other public figures, Tempest signed a letter supporting Labour Party leader

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

describing him as "a beacon of hope in the struggle against emergent far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racism in much of the democratic world" and endorsed him in the

2019 UK general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday 12 December 2019, with 47,074,800 registered voters entitled to vote to elect 650 Members of Parliament (MPs) to the House of Commons. The governing Conservative Party, led by Prim ...

. In December 2019, along with 42 other leading cultural figures, they signed a letter endorsing the Labour Party under Corbyn's leadership in the 2019 general election. The letter stated that "Labour's election manifesto under Jeremy Corbyn's leadership offers a transformative plan that prioritises the needs of people and the planet over private profit and the vested interests of a few."

Reception

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' said of Tempest's commission from the Royal Shakespeare Company: "A stunning piece by aeTempest, a London-born performance poet, comes bursting off the screen. Rarely has the relevance of Shakespeare to our language, to the very fabric of our feelings, been expressed with quite such youthful passion. (It should be mandatory viewing for all teenagers.)" The ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers ...

'' describes them as "Britain's leading young poet, playwright and rapper...one of the most widely respected performers in the country – the complete package of lyrics and delivery.

hey are Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...

also one of the most exciting young writers working in Britain today" (2012). ''The Guardian'' commented of ''Brand New Ancients'', "Suddenly it feels as if we are not in a theatre but a church... gathered around a hearth, hearing the age-old stories that help us make sense of our lives. We're given the sense that what we are watching is something sacred." In 2013, the newspaper noted:

hey are Hey, HEY, or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the ...
one of the brightest talents around.
heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...
spoken-word performances have the metre and craft of traditional poetry, the kinetic agitation of hip-hop and the intimacy of a whispered heart-to-heart... Tempest deals bravely with poverty, class and consumerism. hey doso in a way that not only avoids the pitfalls of sounding trite, but manages to be beautiful too, drawing on ancient mythology and sermonic cadence to tell stories of the everyday.

In 2013, aged 28, they won the

for their work ''Brand New Ancients'', the first person under the age of 40 to win the award, and was selected as one of the 2014 Next Generation Poets by the

Poetry Society The Poetry Society is a membership organisation, open to all, whose stated aim is "to promote the study, use and enjoyment of poetry". The society was founded in London in February 1909 as the Poetry Recital Society, becoming the Poetry Society ...

. Tempest has received wide critical acclaim for their written and live work. A performance of ''Brand New Ancients'' prompted the New York Times to say "As gorgeous streams of words flow out, hey conjurea story so vivid it’s as if you had a state-of-the-art Blu-ray player stuffed into your brain, projecting image after image that sears itself into your consciousness" while a review by Michiko Kakutani of their poetry collections in the same paper explored their written style: “While

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

intense performances on stage add a fierce urgency to the words, these text versions of

work stand powerfully on their own on the page...using

pictorial imagination to sear specific images into the reader's mind". They have been published in nine languages. ''Everybody Down'' was nominated for the 2015 Mercury Music Prize and ''Let Them Eat Chaos'' have been nominated for the 2017 Mercury Music Prize. Their accompanying poetry book ''Let Them Eat Chaos'' was nominated for the Costa Book of the Year in the Poetry Category in 2016. They were nominated as Best Female Solo Performer at the 2018 Brit Awards.

Publications

Poetry collections

* 2012: ''Everything Speaks in its Own Way'' * 2013: ''Brand New Ancients'' * 2014: ''Hold Your Own'' * 2016: ''Let Them Eat Chaos'' * 2016: ''Pictures on a Screen'' * 2018: ''Running Upon The Wires'' * 2023: ''Divisible By Itself and One''

Spoken word performance

* 2012: ''Brand New Ancients'' – Ted Hughes Award 2013 (2014 released as CD)

Plays

* 2013: ''Wasted'' * 2014: ''Glasshouse'' * 2014: ''Hopelessly Devoted'' * 2021: ''Paradise''

Novel

* 2016: ''The Bricks That Built the Houses'', Bloomsbury Circus, London

Non-fiction book

* 2020: ''On Connection'', Faber & Faber, London

Discography

Studio albums

* 2011: ''Balance'' (with Sound of Rum) * 2014: ''Brand New Ancients'' ( Gearbox Records) * 2014: '' Everybody Down'' – nominated for Mercury Prize 2014 * 2016: '' Let Them Eat Chaos'' – nominated for Mercury Prize 2017 * 2019: '' The Book of Traps and Lessons'' * 2022: ''The Line Is a Curve'' * 2025: ''Self Titled''

Singles

* 2014: "Our Town" * 2014: "Circles" * 2014: "Hot Night Cold Spaceship" * 2015: "Bad Place for a Good Time" * 2016: "Guts (with Loyle Carner)" * 2016: "Truth Is Telling (with Blasco Says)" * 2020: "Unholy Elixir" * 2022: “More Pressure (with Kevin Abstract)” * 2022: "Salt Coast" * 2022: "No Prizes" * 2022: "I Saw Light" * 2022: "Move Rework" * 2023: "Nice Idea" * 2023: "Love Harder" * 2025: "Statue In The Square" * 2025: "Know Yourself"

As featured artist

* 2008: "I Got Love (remix)" ( The King Blues featuring Kae Tempest) * 2010: "Drum Song (brentonLABS Remix)" (

The Temper Trap The Temper Trap are an Australian indie rock band formed in 2005 by , Jonathon Aherne, and Toby Dundas. In 2008, the group relocated from Melbourne to London. The band released their debut album ''Conditions (album), Conditions'' in June 2009 to ...

featuring Kae Tempest) * 2011: "Can't Take Another Earthquake" - ( Beans On Toast - featuring Kae Tempest) * 2012: "Forever Ever" (

Bastille The Bastille (, ) was a fortress in Paris, known as the Bastille Saint-Antoine. It played an important role in the internal conflicts of France and for most of its history was used as a state prison by the kings of France. It was stormed by a ...

featuring Kae Tempest & Jay Brown) * 2014: "Our Town" (letthemusicplay featuring Kae Tempest) * 2014: "Rain" (

Rag'n'Bone Man Rory Charles Graham (born 29 January 1985), known professionally as Rag'n'Bone Man, is an English singer. He is known for his deep baritone voice. His first hit single, "Human", was released in 2016, and his first album ''Human'' was released ...

featuring Kae Tempest) * 2014: "Summer" (letthemusicplay featuring Kae Tempest) * 2018: "Kairos" (Warsnare featuring Kae Tempest) * 2018: "A Child Is an Open Book" (

Damien Dempsey Damien Dempsey (born 9 June 1975) is an Irish singer and songwriter who mixes traditional Irish folk contemporary lyrics that deliver social and political commentaries on Irish society. Damien sings in his native, working-class accent in the Eng ...

featuring Kae Tempest) * 2018: "Usubscribe" (Jam Baxter featuring Kae Tempest) * 2018: "6 Millions Stories" ( Foreign Beggars featuring Kae Tempest, Bangzy, Scott Garcia & Bionic) * 2019: "Blood of the Past" ( The Comet is Coming featuring Kae Tempest) * 2020: "Time Is Hardcore" (

High Contrast Lincoln Barrett (born 18 September 1979), better known by the stage name High Contrast, is a Welsh electronic music producer, DJ and record producer. He produces drum and bass music, and his 2009 album '' Confidential'' reached BPI gold cert ...

featuring Kae Tempest & Anita Blay) * 2023: "We Were We Still Are" ( Fraser T. Smith featuring Kae Tempest) *2023: "Geronimo Blues" (Speakers Corner Quartet with Kae Tempest)

References

External links

* – official site *
Kate Tempest
interview with Huey Morgan,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 29 January 2012 (video, 7 mins)
Kate Tempest
"Shelf Life" interview, ''

The Spectator ''The Spectator'' is a weekly British political and cultural news magazine. It was first published in July 1828, making it the oldest surviving magazine in the world. ''The Spectator'' is politically conservative, and its principal subject a ...

'', 12 September 2012
Kate Tempest
on "Writing your own protest song", ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' Teacher Network {{DEFAULTSORT:Tempest, Kae Living people 1985 births 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights 21st-century English LGBTQ people 21st-century English novelists 21st-century English poets Alumni of Goldsmiths, University of London Big Dada artists Caroline Records artists English LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights English LGBTQ novelists English LGBTQ poets English non-binary writers English non-binary musicians English spoken word artists Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature Fiction Records artists Lex Records artists LGBTQ hip-hop musicians LGBTQ people from London Ninja Tune artists Non-binary dramatists and playwrights Non-binary novelists Non-binary poets People educated at Thomas Tallis School People from Brockley People from Westminster Poets from London Slam poets Writers from the London Borough of Lewisham Writers from the City of Westminster