Antony

Antony and the Johnsons give chamber performances in a midnight blue atmosphere, creating highly dramatic, emotional and lyrical music. Often compared to the voices of Nina Simone or Lotte Lenya, Antony's voice is haunting and evocative. The Johnsons is a group formed of a trio of strings, piano, bass and percussion, which lay a treacly though spare foundation of orchestral arrangements.
Antony began to perform his songs in public late at night at the Pyramid Club in New York. After receiving the N.Y.F.A. award for Performance Art/Emergent Forms, he put together the Johnsons band and produced its first album, which was released by Durtro in London and which includes songs such as "Cripple and the Starfish," "Twilight," and "River of Sorrow."
He worked with David Bowie, Laurie Anderson and The Blind Boys of Alabama on one of the songs on the latest Lou Reed album. He also toured with Lou Reed in 2003. He then appeared in a memorable scene of Steve Buscemi's film Animal Factory, while singing his ballad "Rapture" to a crowd of jailbirds.
In April 2004 at the Festival Whitney Biennial, Antony and the Johnsons gave a series of very successful shows at Saint Ann's Warehouse in New York, performing songs from their new album I Am a Bird Now.