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Faithless are an English dance music band that formed in 1995, with its core original members being Rollo Armstrong, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz. During the band's initial period of success, Sister Bliss and Maxi Jazz contributed to studio recordings and toured frequently under the Faithless name, while Rollo served as a studio-only member, and has never performed live with the band. Their first album, Reverence, was released in 1996 and their most recent, All Blessed, in 2020. They have sold millions of physical records, and their catalogue was uploaded to streaming sites in 2018. They average almost 3 million listeners a month on Spotify. Faithless' records have charted at No. 1 in numerous countries and they were voted the 4th greatest dance band of all time by Mixmag.
Their lyrical style has been seen as sociopolitical. Faithless: All the trouble in the world. The Independent. 4 June 2004. Retrieved 25 February 2024. Their 2021 album All Blessed featured photo-journalist Yannis Behrakis' photograph of in its artwork, and included immigration as its writing themes. ALBUM REVIEW: Faithless - All Blessed. 20 October 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
Faithless have headlined numerous major festivals in Europe and beyond, including four editions of Glastonbury.
Faithless' first album Reverence was conceived as a mixtape which covers many genres, encapsulating house, hip-hop, folk and classical music. The album was released on Rollo's label, Cheeky Records.
Their first show at Camden Town’s Jazz cafe to showcase Reverence was a sell-out, and a global tour ensued as the record went up the charts all over Europe. The singles "Insomnia" and "Salva Mea" each selling over a million copies, and album going either platinum or gold in every European territory.
The second studio album, Mercury Prize-nominated Sunday 8PM, contained the global hit "God Is a DJ" and established Faithless as a major touring force in 1998. Emotive videos were directed by featured vocalist Jamie Catto, featuring the band’s transcendent live shows, and helped bring Faithless’ live prowess to the attention of music fans. They were nominated for Best British Dance Act at the Brit Awards in 1999. The same year, Catto departed the band to form 1 Giant Leap.
In 2004, their fourth album No Roots debuted at number 1 in the UK, conceived as a conceptual continuous piece of music in one key, with strong lyrical gravitas it featured vocals from Dido, new collaborator L.S.K, and the late Nina Simone. Dave Grohl of Nirvana and Foo Fighters cited Faithless’ hit protest song "Mass Destruction" as the song he most wished he had written during an interview with Q magazine, and the lyrics were quoted in the US Senate. A powerful video directed by award-winning directing team Dom & Nick alluded to abuses of power during the Iraq War to chilling effect, tracing the connection from childhood bullying to terrorism and genocide.
Encouraged by their label, Faithless released a Greatest Hits album, Forever Faithless. The Greatest Hits album went four times platinum and was the best-selling dance album of 2005. A huge global tour followed the success of the album.
Their fifth album, To All New Arrivals, was released in 2006. It was inspired by the uncertain futures facing Sister Bliss’ recently-born son, and Rollo Armstrong’s young family, exploring themes of global poverty, immigration, conflict and belonging through the concept of "new arrivals". The first single "Bombs", with its anti-war message and video directed by director Howard Greenhalgh, was not playlisted on daytime MTV or BBC Radio 1. The album also featured collaborations with Cat Power and Robert Smith of The Cure. The band played Coachella Valley Festival in 2007.
In 2015, Faithless released a remix album under the banner of Faithless 2.0. The studio album featured contributions from the biggest names in electronic music including Avicii, Tiësto, Armin van Buuren, Claptone and Booka Shade. The album contained tracks from their 25-year career, encompassing seventeen Top 40 singles, six Top 10 albums and they embarked on a tour to celebrate the album released. In 2015 and 2016, the band played a series of live dates under the Faithless 2.0 banner, featuring Maxi Jazz and a full live band. Jazz left the group for the final time in 2016.
On 23 December 2022, Maxi Jazz died "peacefully in his sleep" at his home in London, England at the age of 65. Seven days later, the band's compilation Forever Faithless re-entered the UK Album Downloads chart at number 7.
In January 2024, Bliss announced that Faithless were returning to the "live arena" after eight years, with the group confirmed for dates including Camp Bestival in Shropshire in August that year. Faithless announce a return to the stage to celebrate Maxi Jazz at Camp Bestival Shropshire 2024. NME. 31 January 2024. Retrieved 2 February 2024. On 12 July 2024, Faithless released the single "Find A Way", which features Suli Breaks. On the same day, they announced the title of their upcoming eighth studio album, Champion Sound. On 30 August 2024, the group released the single "I'm Not Alone (Rest Well Maxwell)" which features Amelia Fox and LSK, in tribute to Maxi Jazz. On the same day, they announced The Champion Sound Tour, which will visit UK and European cities in November and December 2024.
On 25 April 2025, Faithless released the single "Dollars and Dimes", featuring Bebe Rexha.
As well as their own studio albums, all three members have actively engaged in other people's work as solo artists.
Sister Bliss is a prominent dance DJ and has for a long time toured the circuit on her own, and has also scored numerous TV, film and theatre productions, along with presenting an award-winning Bauer Media show on Scala Radio joining the dots between classical and electronic music. Sister Bliss’ hugely successful weekly radio show and podcast ‘Sister Bliss in Session’, is syndicated to over 100 stations & 43 countries worldwide, and has around 10 million listeners per month and 60,000 podcast downloads per month.
Rollo Armstrong released a solo record in 2019 under the moniker R PLUS called The Last Summer which features Dido. On 13 May 2022 he released WeDisappear, a collaboration album with Amelia Fox. "Makes Me Feel Good" and an edited version of "Let's Really Have Some Fun", released 28 April 2023, were released as singles. On 24 November 2023, the album, For Lovers, Not Killers was released, once again in collaboration with Amelia Fox. The R Plus albums have erroneously been credited to Faithless on many streaming services.
Maxi Jazz also collaborated with Faithless founding member Jamie Catto on his project 1 Giant Leap and released an album with his band Maxi Jazz and the E-Type Boys.
Finally, Rollo founded the label Cheeky Records and has produced the music of other artists, most notably his sister Dido's albums, as well as using various monikers to create popular dance music under the names Rollo Goes... (Camping, Mystic and Spiritual), Felix, Our Tribe (with Rob Dougan), and Dusted.
Collaborative and touring member
Former members
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