Brittany Howard

Brittany Howard is a lead singer, songwriter and also a guitarist. She was born as Brittany Amber Howard on 2nd October,1988 in Athens, Alabama (United States). Brittany has a white mother and her father is an African American.

She was brought up in a small family house which was in a junkyard. She started playing guitar at the age of thirteen. Her older sister Jamie taught her to write poetry and play the piano. She had a very tragic childhood. Her older sister Jamie died of retinal cancer in 1998.

Howard’s father left their home, and she had to deal with her parents’ divorce as well. Her house was burnt down in a fire and she was also dealing with the problem of vision at a very young age. She has synesthesia, and she sees sounds as colors.

Brittany went to the East Limestone High School. She met Zac Cockrell (Alabama Shakes bassist) there. Initially, she worked at the United States Postal Service and later became a full-time musician and lead singer of Alabama Shakes. The band ‘Alabama Shakes’ was first started under the name ‘The Shakes’, which consisted of Howard, bassist Zac Cockrell and the drummer Steve Johnson.

The trio began playing covers and original songs together. Guitarist Heath Fogg joined the band later and they began singing at bars. In 2012, they released their first album ‘Boys and Girls’, which received critical acclaim and multiple Grammy nominations.

It was in April, 2015 that ‘Alabama Shakes’ released their second album, ‘Sound and Color’ which debuted at number one, in billboard 200. The band was successful in performing at numerous late night shows like Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live or popularly called as NBC&#39 >> Read More... , and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

They also performed at The Late Show with Stephen Colbert Stephen Tyrone Colbert was born on May 13, 1964, i >> Read More... . Along with Mavis Staples, Stephen Colbert, Ben Folds, etc. She was also featured in the music medley. She got an opportunity to sing with Paul McCartney as well.

She also got a chance to perform at the ceremony for Eddie Murphy's Mark Twain Prize. She received the Billboard’s Women in Music "Powerhouse" Award, in 2015. People from the Clear Plastic Masks and ATO Records labelmates Fly Golden Eagle are a part of this band.

The band was formed in 2012, in Nashville and it performed at CMJ Music Marathon showcase, in 2015. However, this band rarely gives live performances. Apart from the bands ‘Alabama Shakes’ and ‘Thunderbitch’ ,Brittany also sings in the band ‘Bermuda Triangle’ along with two singers - Jesse Lafser and Becca Mancari. The band ‘Bermuda Triangle’ was formed in the year, 2017 in Nashville.

‘Thunderbitch’ band did a five-show in October 2017. Howard’s work was nominated for the Grammy nine times out of which she was successful in winning the award thrice. It was at the 58th annual Grammy awards, in 2015 that Alabama Shakes’ ‘ Don Click to look into! >> Read More... ’t Wanna Fight’ won two Grammy awards for the best rock performance and the best rock song categories. Their second album ‘Sound and Color’ won Grammy in the best alternative music album category.