The xx Artistfacts

2005-
Romy Madley CroftGuitar, vocals2005-
Oliver SimBass, vocals2005-
Jamie SmithBeats, production2006-
Baria QureshiKeys, guitar2005-2009
The xx's two singers, Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, met in preschool in a London suburb when they were only 3 years old. "They had music classes, and I remember sharing a xylophone in that music class," Sim recalled to NPR.
Croft and Sim first met the band's producer and beatmaker Jamie Smith at 11, when they started at the Elliott School in Putney, South London. The same educational establishment also spawned Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.
After several years of making music individually, Romy Madley Croft, Oliver Sim and Jamie Smith formed The xx in their final school year along with keyboardist Baria Qureshi. In late 2009, Baria Qureshi left the group.
They won the Mercury Prize for their self-titled first album, which has sold nearly 1.7 million copies worldwide.
Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft are both gay. Madley Croft told The Guardian about her relationship with British designer (and band stylist) Hannah Marshall:

"When we first got together Hannah was always so much better in social situations than me. I felt so shy. But through being with her I feel so much more at ease. I've noticed that's happened in a different way with me than it has with the boys. And I know it's because I've been with someone."
Oliver Sim was one of the faces of Dior's spring/summer 2016 campaign along with actor Alain-Fabien Delon, model Victor Nylander, and artist Rinus Van de Velde.
Jamie Smith and Romy Croft shared a love of skateboarding from the age of 12. Croft told Q Magazine: "It became a consuming passion. We'd go to the Southbank (a place in London where there is a space for skateboarding on the underpass) at eight in the morning."

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