Jake Shears

Jason Sellards was born into an industrious family in Mesa, Arizona on 3 October 1978. After moving to New York at the age of 20 he attended the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, immersed himself into the city's thriving gay scene and re-invented himself as Jake Shears, the outrageously camp frontman of the band Scissor Sisters. Jason Sellards formed the band with his friend Scott Hoffman and the two men were joined by Ana Lynch, aka Ana Matronic, who quickly became a popular act playing clubs in New York. After signing a record deal with a small New York record company called A Touch of Class, the band released a cover version of Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb," which failed to make an impression on the US charts but was a minor hit in the UK and other parts of Europe. Despite their local popularity in New York, the band were struggling to break through to American pop audiences and it wasn't until they came to the attention of Polydor in the UK that their career began to take off. Outside of Scissor Sisters, Jason Sellards has performed a number of collaborations with artists such as Erasure's Andy Bell and the Canadian artist Tiga. His debut solo album titled Jake Shears was released in 2018, which rounded up the talents of New Orleans' favourites, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, members of My Morning Jacket and horn players with country star Sturgill Simpson's band. The album went to number 20 in the UK and was followed five years later with Jake Shears' sophomore effort, Last Man Dancing. Taking inspiration from club culture, the pop-pampered LP features star-studded guest turns from none other than Kylie Minogue, Jane Fonda, Amber Martin, and New Orleans' icon Big Freedia.