Doves (band)

Doves are an English indie rock band formed in 1998, from Wilmslow, Cheshire. The band is composed of singer and bassist Jimi Goodwin and twin brothers, guitarist Jez and drummer Andy Williams.

The band released six studio albums between 2000 and 2025, three of which reached #1 on the UK album charts. The band also achieved two top-ten singles in the UK: "There Goes the Fear" (No. 3 in 2002) and "Black and White Town" (No. 6 in 2005).

The trio was previously Sub Sub, a dance act with a 1993 hit. As Doves, they released their debut album Lost Souls in 2000, which was nominated for the Mercury Prize. Further success followed with their sophomore album The Last Broadcast, which was their first UK number-one record.

Doves entered a hiatus in 2010 after four albums as Goodwin began a solo career while the Williams brothers regrouped as Black Rivers. The band reformed in 2018, performing shows in 2019 and releasing a new album, The Universal Want, in 2020.

The Williams brothers and Goodwin met at Wilmslow High School at age 15. Whilst the Williams brothers grew up in Wilmslow, Goodwin grew up in Altrincham, Cheshire.

All three members played in various local bands during the timeframe, with their paths occasionally crossing. After meeting again at The Haçienda in 1989, the three formed Sub Sub, releasing their first single "Space Face" in 1991. In 1993 they released "Ain't No Love (Ain't No Use)," which reached No. 3 in the UK Singles Chart. On the Williams twins' birthday in February 1996, the band's Ancoats studio caught fire and burned down, leading the band members to abandon their previous dance-oriented style and start afresh as alternative rock band Doves in 1998. On the band's change of direction, Jez Williams said: "We were faced with a really black and white decision: throw the towel in or carry on. And if you're going to carry on, you've got to put everything into it to justify it, because before that you've lost everything. That was quite a liberating feeling, actually."

The band released three EPs in 1998 and 1999 on Casino Records, a subsidiary of Rob Gretton's Rob's Records, which established the group's new sound and met with a warm critical response. Their debut album Lost Souls in April 2000 was nominated for the Mercury Music Prize, which they lost to fellow Mancunian and former collaborator Badly Drawn Boy.

Doves' second album The Last Broadcast was released two years later, reaching No. 1 on the UK Albums Chart, and was again nominated for the Mercury Music Prize. The album's first single "There Goes the Fear" became the band's highest-charting single to date, reaching No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart despite only being released for one day before it was deleted. The album's second single "Pounding" reached No. 21 on the Singles Chart and was used in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics With Glowing Hearts/Des Plus Brillants Exploits advertisement campaign and in pre-event intros.