As lead singer of the Manic Street Preachers, James Dean Bradfield became a multi-platinum frontman during the 1990s, when singles like "A Design for Life" and "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" dominated the UK airwaves. Born in Pontypool, Wales, on February 21, 1969, he formed Manic Street Preachers with his cousin and three classmates in 1986. The band originally played punk music but shifted to a commercial blend of hard-rock and Britpop during the 1990s, with 1996's Everything Must Go becoming their first platinum-selling record. During the decade that followed, the group released an unbroken stream of Top 20 singles in the UK. Meanwhile, Bradfield launched a solo career in 2006 with The Great Western, an album that produced two Top 40 hits, and continued performing with the Manic Street Preachers. Even in Exile, his second solo release, followed in 2020.
