10 Most Iconic British Frontmen In Rock Music History
6. Ian Curtis - Joy Division
Despite his sad and short lived music career, the far reaching and enduring influence of Ian Curtis earns him a place on any list of memorable British musicians. The unassuming look of Curtis only added to his intrigue but it was his baritone voice, and erratic and frenzied on-stage performances that turned him into an icon.
Curtis's on-stage presence was personified by his strange dance moves, becoming a staple of Joy Division gigs, particularly towards the end of his life.
It has been speculated that his unique and intense style of dancing was a means to mitigate and preempt the epileptic fits and seizures Curtis was prone to. Indeed, footage of Curtis often shows him with a pained look of concentration, as if he's using every ounce of his willpower to hold the fits at bay, by manifesting their effects consciously through his dancing.
His unique baritone voice coupled with his lyrical expressions of isolation and loneliness, defined Joy Division's sound and would permeate through the post-punk British music scene in the late 1970s and early '80s.
Curtis was a depressive for much of his life, and used drugs and alcohol excessively as a means to cope, which only exacerbated his mood swings and likely contributed to the frequency of his epileptic fits. Sadly Ian Curtis took his own life on the 18 May 1980.