| Daley | |
| Birth Place: | Manchester, England |
| Birth Name: | Gareth Daley |
| Instrument: | Keyboards, piano, vocals |
| Genre: | Alternative R&B, soul |
| Occupation: | Singer-songwriter, musician |
| Years Active: | 2010–present |
| Label: | Republic Records, Polydor |
Gareth Daley,[1] known mononymously as Daley, is a British singer-songwriter and creative artist from Manchester, known for his collaborations with Gorillaz, Jill Scott, Pharrell Williams, Marsha Ambrosius and Jessie J.
After signing with Universal Music, Daley achieved Billboard chart success with the singles Alone Together[2] with Marsha Ambrosius (of Floetry), the Pharrell Williams-produced Look Up and Until The Pain Is Gone[3] featuring three time Grammy winner Jill Scott.
Daley was born and brought up in the suburbs of South Manchester in the North-West of England. Before pursuing music professionally, a passion for the creative visual arts led him to study Design & Art Direction at Manchester Metropolitan University, and work as a Graphic Designer, video editor and animator. He lived in Manchester until age 21, before making the decision to quit his day job and relocate to London to focus solely on making music.
With some early demos, Daley took to the UK live scene, performing at open-mic nights, jam sessions and new talent stages including 'Troy Bar' in Hoxton, 'iluvlive' in Camden and widely respected music industry showcase 'Wired' at Shoreditch House. He would often find himself on stages with fellow emerging artists Ed Sheeran, Jessie J, Emeli Sande and Maverick Sabre - many of whom he has since collaborated or toured with.
Steadily making a name for himself, Daley caught the attention of Gorillaz co-creator Damon Albarn, who invited him to meet and work on new material for the animated band's Plastic Beach album, resulting in their 2011 single "Doncamatic", which Daley co-wrote and fronted as lead vocalist. He subsequently joined the Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour, along with Little Dragon, De La Soul, Lou Reed and Snoop Dogg.
The collaboration enhanced Daley's visibility within the music industry, and early radio airplay started largely at BBC Radio 1Xtra, whose DJs Twin B, Ras Kwame, MistaJam and Ronnie Herel all championed the singer. This eventually lead to him taking part in emerging artist discovery platform BBC Introducing, where he was invited to record three of his songs at the world-famous Maida Vale Studios in London, and began to attract the attention of record labels.
Daley's first solo offering was the Those Who Wait mixtape in late 2011, an independently released free download that was distributed through his official website Daley.TV. The mixtape achieved 50,000 downloads in its first month, increasing to 150,000 downloads over the months that followed and garnered Daley support from UK media including BBC's 'Sound of...' poll[4] and online buzz from bloggers and fans alike. It consisted of ten songs, and showcased an alternative R&B sound. Stand out tracks included "Those Who Wait", "Game Over", "Smoking Gun", and an acoustic cover of 'Maxwell's "Pretty Wings", which became a viral favourite.
Released on 11 February 2014 by Polydor Records in the United Kingdom and Republic Records in the United States - the critically acclaimed Days + Nights was Daley's official debut studio album. Featuring stand out songs 'Look Up', 'Broken', 'Time Travel' and 'Blame The World', the album featured collaborations with Pharrell Williams, Illangelo, Bernard Butler and Shea Taylor.
On 14 July 2017, after a two-year hiatus, Daley's sophomore studio album The Spectrum was released via BMG Rights Management. The album featured lead single "Until The Pain Is Gone"[3] a duet with three time Grammy winner Jill Scott).[5] and the Prince-inspired funk jam "Sympathy" with UK producer/DJ Swindle, "Selfish" produced by Montreal producer 'xSdtrk' and UK Garage inspired "Careless"
| Details | Peak positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [6] | US Heat | US R&B [7] | |||
| Days + Nights |
| 128 | 1 | 12 | |
| The Spectrum[8] |
| — | 7 | — | |
| Title | Details | Chart positions | Notes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Heat [9] | |||||||||||||
| Those Who Wait |
| — | |||||||||||
| Alone Together |
| 30 | |||||||||||
| Songs That Remind Me of You |
| — | |||||||||||
| "—" denotes albums that did not chart or were not released. | |||||||||||||
| Year | Single | Peak chart positions | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [10] | US Adult R&B [11] | US R&B/HH [12] | US R&B/HH Airplay [13] | |||||||||
| 2010 | "Doncamatic" (Gorillaz featuring Daley) | 37 | — | — | — | The Singles Collection 2001–2011 | ||||||
| 2011 | "Those Who Wait" | — | — | — | — | Those Who Wait | ||||||
| 2012 | "Alone Together" (featuring Marsha Ambrosius) | — | 5 | 66 | 31 | Alone Together | ||||||
| "Remember Me" (featuring Jessie J) | 24 | — | — | — | ||||||||
| 2013 | "Broken" | — | — | — | — | Days + Nights | ||||||
| "Look Up" | — | 10 | — | 48 | ||||||||
| 2014 | "Time Travel" | — | — | — | — | |||||||
| 2017 | "Until the Pain Is Gone" (featuring Jill Scott)[14] | — | 5 | — | 41 | The Spectrum | ||||||
| "—" denotes singles that were not officially released. | ||||||||||||
| Song | Year | Artist(s) | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Doncamatic" | 2013 | Gorillaz featuring Daley | The Singles Collection 2001–2011 | |
| "Long Way Home" | 2011 | Wretch 32 featuring Daley | Black and White | |
| "Heaven" | 2013 | Nelly featuring Daley | M.O. | |
| "Birds & Bees" | 2015 | Vince Staples featuring Daley | Summertime '06 | |
| "Heaven" | 2019 | Dyllón Burnside featuring Daley | Heaven (Single) |
Daley has embarked on several sold-out headline tours around the U.S. and Europe, notably playing London's KOKO, to the Apollo Theatre and Highline Ballroom in New York City, El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles, in Washington, D.C., and the Buckhead Theatre in Atlanta.
Other artists he has performed and toured with include Stevie Wonder, Gorillaz, Miguel, Jessie J, Emeli Sande, Maxwell, Jill Scott, Maverick Sabre, Kelly Rowland, Earth, Wind & Fire, and Quincy Jones.
Headline tours
Support tours