Passenger (singer)

Michael David Rosenberg (born 17 May

1984), better known by his stage name
Passenger, is an English singer-
songwriter and musician. Previously the
main vocalist and songwriter of
Passenger, Rosenberg opted to keep the
band's name for his solo work after the
band dissolved in 2009. His most
successful single, "Let Her Go", has
topped the charts in many countries. In
2014, the song was nominated for the
Brit Award for British Single of the Year,
and he received the British Academy's
Ivor Novello Award for Most Performed
Work.[1]
 Passenger

Rosenberg performing in Southampton,

Hampshire, England in January 2013

Background information

Birth name Michael David

Rosenberg

Born 17 May 1984

Brighton, East Sussex,
England

Genres Folk rock • indie folk

Occupation(s) Singer-songwriter •
musician
Instruments Vocals • guitar

Years active 2003–present

Labels Nettwerk • Black Crow

Associated acts Passenger •

Ed Sheeran •
Kate Miller Heidke •
Birdy

Website passengermusic.com

Personal life
Rosenberg was born on 17 May 1984[2][3]
in Brighton & Hove, East Sussex, England
to Quaker parents, English mother Jane
and American Jewish father, Gerard
Rosenberg, originally from Vineland, New
Jersey.[4][5][6] Rosenberg learnt classical
guitar at a young age and at around 14–
15, started to write songs. He worked as
a chef and spent his spare time on
writing music and practicing guitar.[7] He
did not apply himself at school in
Brighton, spending his time on music.
Rosenberg left school at the age of 16 to
pursue a career in the music industry and
spent the next few years as a busker in
England and Australia.[8] Rosenberg still
lives in Brighton.[2] He is a fan of English
football club Arsenal F.C. In May 2015,
Rosenberg appeared at Arsenal's 'A Night
to Inspire' event and played a version of
the '49 Undefeated' fan chant.[9]
Music career
Early years

Rosenberg’s father (a film production

worker) introduced him to ex-Faithless
member Jamie Catto in 2001, leading to
a two-song spot at the Free Burma
Campaign benefit gig at the Royal Court
in London in 2002.[10] On the night,
Rosenberg met his future writing partner
Andrew Phillips and established contact
with the IE Music label. Back in Brighton,
Phillips and Rosenberg pooled their
musical influences (from Simon And
Garfunkel to DJ Shadow), and started to
write songs at Phillips’ in-house studio in
Hove. During 2003 they formed the Mike
Rosenberg Band, engaging Marcus O’Dair
(bass), Alon Cohen (drums) and Richard
Brinklow (keyboards) through
connections within the Brighton music
scene.[11]

2003–09: Passenger

Rosenberg did his first performance

when he was 16. He founded Passenger
with Andrew Phillips in 2003 in Brighton
and Hove. The name of the band was
stylised as /Passenger. (with a slash at
the beginning and a dot at the end). The
five-person band's debut and only album,
Wicked Man's Rest, was released in 2007,
on Chalkmark.[12] Rosenberg wrote the
majority of the album's tracks, with the
exception of "Four Horses", which was
written by Phillips. The band broke up in
2009.

2009–10: Solo career and

Wide Eyes Blind Love

After the break-up of Passenger,

Rosenberg kept the stage-name
Passenger and took to busking for a solo
music career. He first took his act in
October 2009 to Australia, where he
supported acts such as Lior and
Sydneysiders Elana Stone and Brian
Campeau, and then played One
Movement, a major music industry-focus
festival in Perth. This earned him a big
following in Australia and he was selling
out 500-seater venues across Australia.
His debut solo album, Wide Eyes Blind
Love, was released in 2009, produced
and mixed by former bandmate Andrew
Phillips (who also provided backing
vocals, and played guitar and other
instruments) and vocally supported by
Isobel Anderson. He also played various
shows in the United Kingdom during this
time, including a support slot for Turin
Brakes' tenth anniversary show at
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane in London.

2010–11: Flight of the Crow

The follow-up album, Flight of the Crow,
was recorded in Australia[13] and saw him
joined in the studio by various Australian
independent musical talents including
Lior, Kate Miller-Heidke, Boy & Bear, Josh
Pyke and Katie Noonan. Additionally, he
produced a fans-only limited release
Divers and Submarines, again supported
by former bandmate Andrew Phillips and
vocalist Isobel Anderson.

2011–13: All The Little Lights

Passenger in September 2013

On his next album, recorded at Sydney's

Linear Recording, Rosenberg was joined
once again by a core Australian band that
included Boy & Bear drummer Tim Hart,
jazz bassist Cameron Undy, and
keyboards player Stu Hunter, from Katie
Noonan and The Captains.[14] During the
summer and autumn of 2012, Rosenberg
toured the UK, opening for Jools Holland
and good friend Ed Sheeran, the latter of
whom he had known since he was about
15 while living in Cambridge.[2] He also
joined Australian acts the John Butler
Trio, and Josh Pyke with a co-headlined
UK tour. He also opened for Ed Sheeran's
2012 North American tour[15] and also in
Paris. All The Little Lights was released in
summer of 2012 in North America on
Nettwerk Records.[16] He also opened for
Ed Sheeran on his four out of five sell out
dates in Ireland in January 2013 and in
Australia and New Zealand in early
2013,[17] and supported Sheeran in his
Brighton dates and in Reading.[18]
Rosenberg performed "All the Little
Lights" at the Children in Need Rocks
concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in
London, broadcast on BBC One on 14
November.[19]

2014–15: Whispers and

Whispers II

On 24 March 2014, Passenger unveiled

"Whispers", the title track of his new
album, as part of his set at the Teenage
Cancer Trust charity concert at the Royal
Albert Hall in London where he also
performed alongside Ed Sheeran.[20] On
26 March, Passenger announced details
of his fifth studio album. He released
Whispers on 9 June 2014. Talking to
Digital Spy about the album he said, "This
is easily the most 'up' album I've ever
made, it's quite cinematic. There are lots
of big stories and big ideas. There are
also some sombre moments about
loneliness and death but hey, it wouldn't
be a Passenger album without those." He
released "Hearts on Fire" as the lead
single from the album on 14 April
2014.[21]

Passenger recorded Whispers II at the

same time as recording Whispers,
releasing it as an extension of the first.
He released Whispers II on 20 April 2015.
All profits from the album go to the
UNICEF UK initiative to help children in
Liberia.[22]
2016–17: Young as the
Morning, Old as the Sea and
The Boy Who Cried Wolf

On 16 June 2016, the music video for

"Somebody's Love" was uploaded to his
YouTube channel, thereby announcing
his next album, titled Young as the
Morning, Old as the Sea. A second track
from the album, "Anywhere" was released
on 19 August 2016. The album Young as
the Morning, Old as the Sea was released
on 23 September 2016, and became
Passenger's first UK number one
album.[23]

On 25 July 2017, at the end of his Young

as the Morning, Old as the Sea tour,
Rosenberg announced via the Passenger
Facebook page that their performance on
Sunday 23 July would be "my / our last
gig for a while".[24] The following day, he
announced his next album, The Boy Who
Cried Wolf, would be released two days
later on 28 July 2017.[25]

Awards and nominations

Independent Music Awards 2013: "Let
Her Go" – Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter
Song[26]
Galgalatz Israeli annual International
song chart – "Let Her Go" – Best Song
of 2013.[27]
 Brit Awards 2014: "Let Her Go" –
British Single of the Year
(Nominated)[28]
Ivor Novello Awards 2014: "Let Her Go"
– PRS for Music Most Performed
Work.[1]

Tours
All the Little Lights Tour (2012–13)
Whispers Tour (2014)
Whispers II North American Tour
(2015)
Whispers ll Australia Tour (2015–16)
Young As The Morning Old As The Sea
Tour (2016–17)

Discography
 Studio albums
Wicked Man's Rest (2007) - with the
band
Wide Eyes Blind Love (2009)
Divers & Submarines (2010)
Flight of the Crow (2010)
All the Little Lights (2012)
Whispers (2014)
Whispers II (2015)
Young as the Morning Old as the Sea
(2016)
The Boy Who Cried Wolf (2017)

References
1. Pakinkis, Mike (22 May 2014). "Ivor
Novello Awards 2014: All the winners" .
Music Week. London, England: Intent
Media. Retrieved 24 June 2014.
2. "Passenger, a.k.a. Mike Rosenberg,
grateful for Ed Sheeran's support" .
thestar.com. Retrieved 28 September
2014.
3. "Twitter / passengermusic: Thank you
all so much for my birthday messages xxx
im having a lovely day thanks!!
Manchester – you were" . Twitter. 17 May
2012. Retrieved 26 April 2013.
4. "Brits Are Here" . Philly.com. Retrieved
28 September 2014.
5. "Passenger's Mike Rosenberg tackles
dark subjects with a light touch" .
Washington Post. Retrieved 28 September
2014.
6. "KHOP @ 95.1 - ALL THE HITS -
Passenger Says Stage Name's More
"Mysterious" and "Interesting" than His
Actual Name [From ABC News]" .
archive.org. 1 February 2014. Retrieved
31 March 2018.
7. [1]
8. Doyle, Patrick. "Q&A: Passenger."
Rolling Stone; 13 February 2014: 26.
ProQuest. Web. 16 April 2014
9. "Passenger's version of '49
Undefeated'!" . soundcloud.com.
Retrieved 22 May 2015.
10. "An evening of music and comedy for
Burma" . Burma Campaign UK. Retrieved
11 November 2014.
11. "Passenger". Encyclopedia of Popular
Music, 4th ed. 2014.
12. Aston, Martin. "Passenger. Wicked
Man's Rest", The Times, p. 24. (15
September 2007)
13. . "Double date – troubadour brings
travelling tales to city", Bath Chronicle, p.
46. (18 August 2011)
14. "Passenger – About" . Facebook.
Retrieved 5 April 2013.
15. "Vancouver Weekly: Interview by Maria
Perez with Passenger (Mike
Roesenberg)" . Vancouver Weekly.
Retrieved 28 September 2014.
16. "All The Little Lights North America
Release Date" .
17. "Ed Sheeran – UK (Belfast) and Ireland
(Dublin) Tour Diary" . YouTube.
18. "10/19/12" . Ents24. Retrieved
28 September 2014.
19. "Line up" . Children in Need Rocks.
BBC. Retrieved 9 November 2013.
20. "British singer/songwriters get
Teenage Cancer Trust benefit shows off
to a storming start at London's Royal
Albert Hall" . Official Charts Company.
21. "Passenger announces new album
Whispers – Music News -" . Digital Spy.
Retrieved 28 September 2014.
22. English, Joe (24 March 2015).
"Passenger's new album release will help
children in danger in Liberia" . Unicef.
23. "Passenger pips Bruce Springsteen to
score his first Number 1 album: "This is so
unbelievably exciting!!" " . Official Charts.
30 September 2016. Retrieved 27 July
2017.
24. "Passenger" . www.facebook.com.
Retrieved 31 March 2018.
25. "New Album 'The Boy Who Cried
Wolf' " . Passengermusic.com. 26 July
2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
26. "12th Annual Independent Music
Awards Winners Announced" .
Independentmusicawards.com. 11 June
2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
27. "- ‫ גלגלצ‬-" . Glgltz.co.il. Archived from
the original on 19 November 2014.
Retrieved 28 September 2014.
28. "Passenger" . Brits.co.uk. Archived
from the original on 29 November 2014.
Retrieved 28 September 2014.

External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related
to Passenger (British band).

Official website
Passenger's channel on YouTube
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=Passenger_(singer)&oldid=836014129"

Last edited 5 hours ago by PootisH…

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