Who is Franz Ferdinand

Franz Ferdinand are an award winning Scottish rock band, from Glasgow. Formed in 2001 and named after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the band consists of Alex Kapranos on lead vocals and guitar, Bob Hardy on bass guitar, Nick McCarthy on rhythm guitar, keyboards, and backing vocals, and Paul Thomson on drums, percussion, and backing vocals.

Despite the poor charting of first single "Darts of Pleasure", the band saw chart success with their debut self-titled album (released in 2004) which debuted on the UK album charts at number three and won the 2004 Mercury Music Prize and two BRIT Awards in 2005 for Best British Group and Best British Rock Act. From the album, three top ten singles were released, the smash hit and critically acclaimed "Take Me Out", "The Dark of the Matinée", followed by a top 20 hit "Michael".

Their second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, charted at #1, giving birth to top ten hit "Do You Want To" and other hits such as "Walk Away" and "The Fallen".

Franz Ferdinand are generally considered part of the indie rock scene, alongside similar guitar bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, their friends The Futureheads and Hard-Fi. (read more)