The Joy Formidable

The Joy Formidable Artistfacts

  • 2007-
    Ritzy BryanVocals, guitar
    Rhydian DafyddVocals, bass
    Matt ThomasDrums, percussion
  • It didn't take The Joy Formidable long to earn praise from their rock 'n' roll peers. Garbage's Shirley Manson, Foo Fighters' Dave Grohl, and Elvis Costello and the Imposters keyboardist Steve Nieve have all expressed their appreciation for the Welsh band's music.
  • Before forming The Joy Formidable with drummer Matt Thomas, vocalist/guitarists Ritzy Bryan and Rhydian Dafydd were in another Welsh band called Sidecar Kisses. Apparently Bryan joined the band as a guitarist and didn't have much say in the creative direction of the band. Dafydd realized that Bryan was good at writing her own songs, so Sidecar Kisses split up and with the help of Thomas, The Joy Formidable was born.
  • The biggest show The Joy Formidable ever played was a stadium show opening for Paul McCartney in front of 60,000 fans.
  • The Joy Formidable donate some of the process they receive for every single show to charity. The charities they support change ever tour, but they mostly support homeless shelters.
  • The Joy Formidable front woman Ritzy Bryan says she "has a problem with hoarding." Bryan likes to collect all of the things fans throw onstage during the band's shows, inflatable objects, a doll, a dragon, and an 8 foot bottle.
  • As a pre-show ritual, the members of The Joy Formidable like to wrestle each other. Front woman Ritzy Bryan, who often wears funky vintage outfits onstage, describes herself as a "formidable wrestler, like Scrappy-Doo" and likes the ritual because "it gets the blood pumping."
  • In 2011, The Joy Formidable appeared on the soundtrack for the Twilight movie Breaking Dawn, Part 1. Lead singer/guitarist Ritzy Bryan said the band was excited about it even though they had not read the Twilight books or seen the movies.

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