Born in Scarborough, Yorkshire, England on September 19, 1966, Joe Solo is a prolific musician, author, poet, activist, and broadcaster who has released many solo albums alongside music by his band Lithium Joe. Influenced by politically charged groups like The Clash, Joe Solo began his music career in 1987. As a live performer, he began to attract an audience mesmerized by his thought-provoking songs as well as his between-song banter. After several years performing as a solo artist, he formed the punk-inspired band Lithium Joe in 1991. Deciding to remain fiercely independent, the group spent the next decade playing live and releasing a series of EPs and singles. Although Joe Solo released a solo album in the mid-1990s, Lithium Joe didn’t release their first full length album, Upstairs at Park Street, in 2000. After the release of the 2001 mini-album At the Rainbow’s End, the band split and Joe Solo returned to his solo career. Since 2004, he has released over twenty albums, covering folk, punk, and blues styles. His solo catalog includes releases such as An Exile in Suburbia (2004), Never Be Defeated (2016), Sledgehammer Songs (2024), and the Songs for Our Times EP (2025). As an activist, he has focused on community-level organizing and using his music to raise awareness and funds to combat the effects of austerity and poverty. In 2015, he co-founded We Shall Overcome, a movement that was created in response to the devastating effects of the UK government's austerity program on ordinary people. Joe Solo reformed Lithium Joe in 2020 and the group sporadically performed live and has released several singles up through 2025. In 2026, he returned as a solo artist with the album Punk Rock Prepared Us for This.
