Wolfmother @ O2 Ritz Manchester in Manchester

About the artist

Wolfmother is an Australian rock band from Erskineville, Sydney. Formed in 2000, the group was originally a trio composed of vocalist and guitarist Andrew Stockdale, bassist and keyboardist Chris Ross and drummer Myles Heskett. Wolfmother released their self-titled debut album in October 2005, which reached number three on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart. The album was also a critical success, winning the 2005 J Award and 2006 ARIA Awards for Best Breakthrough Album and Best Rock Album. "Woman", a single from the album, won the band their first Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance in 2007. In August 2008, co-founding members Ross and Heskett left the band due to "irreconcilable personal and musical differences", after which Stockdale decided to continue using the Wolfmother moniker with new musicians. After a brief hiatus, Stockdale returned with a new four-piece band in January 2009 featuring bassist and keyboardist Ian Peres, rhythm guitarist Aidan Nemeth and drummer Dave Atkins. The new line-up's first album, entitled Cosmic Egg, was released in October 2009 and reached the same Australian chart peak as Wolfmother. Atkins left the band in April 2010 following extensive touring to be replaced by Will Rockwell-Scott of American garage rock band The Mooney Suzuki, and the follow-up to Cosmic Egg is expected in 2012. In 2012 it was revealed that both Rockwell-Scott and Nemeth had left the band; they have temporarily been replaced with Hamish Rosser and Vin Steele respectively, and keyboardist Elliott Hammond has also joined the group.