Bradley Simpson

The lead singer of hooky U.K. pop group the Vamps, Bradley Simpson adopts a more discontented tone and dingier indie sound as a soloist. The boy band went platinum with Meet the Vamps in 2014 and then went all the way to number one in the U.K. with 2017’s Night & Day: Night Edition and 2020’s eclectic Cherry Blossom, which took on a more assured tenor as the onetime teen stars reached their mid-twenties. While the Vamps released a series of stripped-down “ReVamped” versions of songs from their ten-year-old debut throughout 2024, Simpson took this maturity further on his first solo single, the brooding alt-rocker "Cry at the Moon." His full-length debut, The Panic Years, followed in 2025. In 2012, guitarist James McVey decided to take the rather unusual route of searching for talent on YouTube when he wanted to start a band. First, he approached singer/songwriter Bradley Simpson via his own YouTube channel, and after writing a few songs together, the pair recruited drummer Tristan Evans and bassist Connor Ball to complete the lineup. The Vamps went on to distinguish themselves from the swell of boy bands that arrived in the wake of One Direction's success and achieved platinum sales with 2014's Meet the Vamps, which reached number two in the U.K. in addition to breaching the Billboard 200 Top 40. The bright, acoustic-leaning pop of this album and 2015's Wake Up gave way to the EDM-infused sound of 2017's Night & Day. On 2020's Cherry Blossom, the Vamps balanced both of these styles with a maturity reflecting their lives as twentysomethings; it went all the way to number one at home and entered the Top Ten in Ireland. The Vamps celebrated ten years together with the release of a fanzine, a Top 30-charting compilation, and a greatest-hits tour throughout 2022. In 2024, they returned with series of “ReVamped” versions of songs from Meet the Vamps. Meanwhile, Simpson had written a batch of songs inspired by the emotional journey of the previous decade, and he entered the studio with producers Andrew Wells (Jake Bugg, the Vaccines) and Dirty Pretty Things’ Anthony Rossomando, who helped him fashion a more indie and alt-rock-oriented sound for these personal songs (with a little pop bounce thrown in for good measure). BOOTS (Beyoncé, FKA twigs) acted as the album’s executive producer. Simpson's first solo single, “Cry at the Moon,” appeared on Insanity Records/Sony that March, with several more singles issued during the rest of the year, culminating in the February 2025 release of The Panic Years.
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