With his new hip-hop tinged single, Rag‘n’Bone Man is getting back to his roots.
Three albums into his career, and recently turned 40, the British soul man can do as wants. He enjoyed the type of meteoric rise that etches its way into the history books, by landing consecutive UK No. 1 albums (his third dropped in at No. 3), and a swag of BRIT Awards, including the BRITs Critics’ Choice Award.
The single that kicked-in the doors was 2016’s “Human”, a track that has collected more than 5 billion global streams, including 2 billion views on YouTube. According to the BPI, Britain’s recorded music industry body, his debut album Human was the 2010’s fastest-selling debut album by a British male.
“That couple of years was fucking wild. It was wild,” Rag‘n’Bone Man (real name: Rory Graham) recounted during his recent tour of Australia.
With “Human” it all changed. “My friend, who moved over to Melbourne, working on a building site, he called me one day and he was like, ‘You’re on the fucking radio every single day over here, mate.’ Something was really happening. Europe, US, everywhere. It became this monster of a song, that, you know, changed everything.”
Those cool, thousand cap venues and underground festivals he had filled, they quickly became 6,000 cap venues and mainstream fests.
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“At the time I remember thinking,” he recounts, “if I sit around thinking about this too much, it’s just going to freak me out. I shut my eyes, set my sights on the other side. And try enjoy it as much as possible.”
Rag‘n’Bone Man made it, alright. If a time machine permitted, would he change a thing on that wild early ride? “Holy shit, no way. I think I did alright. I don’t regret anything,” he told Tone Deaf. “Maybe drink a little less, but that’s about it. It hurts a little bit more when you’re 40.”
The Englishman is gearing up for his next phase, and has been testing new music on Australian audiences. Produced by Danger Mouse and arriving this Saturday, May 10th, “Time to Love” is “a real banger,” he reckons. “I would say it’s slightly underground. It’s not necessary a big pop song but it really has heads nodding in the audience. Australia is the first place we’ve played it live.”
Before the world knew his stage name, Rory was an ambitious rap artist by the name of Rag‘n’Bonez.
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“Time to Love” is a standalone from Rag‘n’Bone Man’s third studio album, What Do You Believe In?, from October 2024. That LP, he remembers, lifted him through trauma. “It’s not easy to lose people, family”, he explained. “It really helped that situation, actually.” And having to perform those songs live, “at first it was like, there’s no way. I’d just be a mess. But I’ve got over that as well. It was definitely a remedy.”
Australia is Rag‘n’Bone Man’s seventh biggest market across streaming and social platforms. His most recent five-date trek was his first since the back end of his Human campaign, the pandemic impacting his live ambitions for 2021’s Life by Misadventure (that album peaked at No. 4 on the ARIA Chart, after Human reached No. 3).
“Australian audience seem to be more raucous,” he admits, “but also generous and loving.”
Away from the studio and stage, Rag‘n’Bone Man is an outdoors type. He loves a spot of fishing and hanging out with his kids, and he’s keen on creating music for film. A song or two might even be locked in for the movies. More on that later.
And what about a silver screen acting role? “I’d love to try it, but I don’t want to be one of those guys who thinks they can do everything”, he insisted. “I have been asked a couple of times. I was asked to be in some kind of gangster film. Maybe I should stick to what I’m good at. If it felt like the right thing, I’d give it a go. If they’re making another series of Gangs of London, then they can give me shout if they need a big hairy man for a part.”
