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EXPLAINED: The darkness | Rare Historical Photos

“I was a session guitarist for a bit, which is unbelievable because I can’t read music. I used to pretend to flip the music sheets during sessions!” Dan Hawkins says it’s a miracle The Darkness have survived so long

His most prized Gibson was made for Jimmy Page and contains an Angus Young pickup. He knows the difference between opening for Metallica and Iron Maiden. He knows kids hate AI. And there’s one thing that he can’t tell you for legal reasons

Guitar World

"There was a guy shooting at us from his balcony. It turned out he’d been sniffing glue." The story of the UK's only top-10 nu metal hit

A's Nothing bore all the hallmarks of a nu metal banger - but its creators couldn't have been further from the genre

Metal Hammer

“It’s the best album ever made! It’s so diverse it transcends any sort of rock boundaries. Even within the first two songs, you’re thrown straight into the unknown”: Why this Queen classic is hailed as the GOAT by The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins

“The whole album means so much to me. It blew my mind”

MusicRadar

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"I went to the Job Centre, and someone recognised me and started laughing. I went back to the car and cried my eyes out." Britrock's cheekiest chaps A have returned, older and wiser – and they've made the album they needed to

Prang is A's first new album in over 20 years

Louder

"You just hope it’s all going to work out. It usually does...but you never know!" Iron Maiden’s Steve Harris and Bruce Dickinson talk Eddfest, 50 years of heavy metal and whether we'll get a new album

Two-fisted flamethrowers, tough support acts, the late Paul Di’anno and the next Maiden album – Bruce and Steve reveal all

Metal Hammer

“When he sang the chorus for the first time, I just said, ‘No, you can’t do that – it sounds ridiculous!’”: The classic 2000s hit inspired by Queen and Def Leppard – with not one but two killer guitar solos

“I really thought people would just laugh at us when they heard it”

MusicRadar

"We dusted off our trusty loincloths and assembled in the courtyard of Castle Darkness." Listen to The Darkness's epic theme song for the new Masters Of The Universe movie

The Darkness and He-Man, together at last. Also, there's a Best Of collection from Justin Hawkins & Co. on the way

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Queen's Roger Taylor reveals why his son didn't join Foo Fighters

Queen star Roger Taylor has revealed why Dave Grohl didn't recruit his drummer son Rufus Taylor to replace his Godfather Taylor Hawkins in the Foo Fighters - explaining the former Nirvana star didn't want to break up Rufus' band The Darkness.

BANG Premier

"I remember listening to it and freaking out – I couldn't believe how authentic it sounded." How The Darkness created the ultimate modern power ballad

The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins looks back at how he and his bandmates created a “power ballad for the age” – and a breath of fresh air in an era when rock wasn’t exactly in fashion

Louder

"In 2026, there's no better celebration of all that's heroic and daft and delightful about hard rock than The Darkness." The Darkness in Auckland, New Zealand - live review

At the end of the year, The Darkness will headline the O2 in London: This week, we caught up with them at a venue 1/20th of the size in New Zealand

Louder

"Once you're comfortable in this space, don't overthink it, just enjoy it." A new recording studio at a historic English school has been named after Justin Hawkins

The Darkness frontman attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of The Justin Hawkins Recording Studio

Louder

"There are people who are almost tainted by their knowledge of music. It's almost like they know too much": How we got over ourselves and learned to love The Darkness

On October 7, 2003, The Darkness released their debut album Permission To Land. Many were resistant to its obvious charms, including us

Louder

"When I'm peeling the sprouts, it's nice to hear Cannibal Corpse or Obituary just to maintain a bit of edge": Justin Hawkins on Christmas, being back in arenas, supporting Iron Maiden, brother Dan being a rock star, Yungblud and more

The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins is currently on the road with his Justin Hawkins’ Rides Again... Again! tour

Louder

"I was naked in the vocal booth. At first, I did it as an experiment to see if it would help, then it became a tradition": The story of the spandex-clad classic that launched its creators into the stratosphere

Recorded on 9/11 and once voted the Greatest Song Of The Twenty-first Century So Far, I Believe In A Thing Called Love could have been a hit in any decade

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BANG Premier

The Darkness reveal how they 'blagged’ their Christmas hit

The Darkness penned their Christmas classic Christmas Time (Don’t Let The Bells End) after a drunken night out.

MusicRadar

“A lot of the floor plan for any Darkness gig is amps. We don’t use simulators because we’re a real band making proper noise”: Why Justin Hawkins and The Darkness like to rock the old-fashioned way

And he reckons their next album could be their answer to Exile On Main St.

MusicRadar

“He wanted it to sound tinny, so he literally put the mic in a tin. That’s the way he would chase ideas”: When Justin Hawkins and The Darkness teamed up with Queen’s eccentric producer, strange things happened with champagne buckets, panpipes and more

They took a One Way Ticket To Hell... And Back

Metal Hammer

Watch The Darkness treat commuters at London St Pancras station to a surprise live performance

Justin and Dan Hawkins of The Darkness performed Christmas songs and some of their hits at London train station

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Guitar World

“A couple of Ace’s people were furious. I got cornered by a couple who were asking if I had a problem”: Justin Hawkins on his run-in with Ace Frehley – who saw the funny side to their ‘spat’

The Darkness frontman felt a good-natured tirade had landed him in hot water

BANG Premier

Yungblud slams 'bitter' rock star critics of Ozzy Osbourne tribute at VMAs

Yungblud has fired back after The Darkness stars Justin and Dan Hawkins criticised his Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the MTV VMAs last month.

Metal Hammer

"It's like watching David Hasselhoff": Justin Hawkins backs brother Dan's criticism of "poseur" Yungblud's Ozzy tribute

The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins explains why "musicians of a certain age" feel "irked" by Yungblud

Guitar World

“Makes me sick how people jump on this to further their own careers”: The Darkness’ Dan Hawkins blasts Yungblud, Steven Tyler and Joe Perry for their VMAs Ozzy Osbourne tribute

Yungblud led an all-star cast of music greats for a medley of Prince of Darkness classics – but Hawkins wasn’t impressed

BANG Premier

The Darkness' Dan Hawkins brands Ozzy Osbourne MTV VMAs tribute 'another nail in the coffin for rock 'n' roll'

Dan Hawkins has hit out at those involved in the Ozzy Osbourne tribute at the MTV Video Music Awards.

Metal Hammer

"Makes me sick how people jump on this sh*t to further their own careers": The Darkness guitarist Dan Hawkins slams MTV Ozzy tribute

MTV's tribute to the late Ozzy Osbourne featured Steven Tyler and Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Nuno Bettencourt and Yungblud

Louder

The sound of glorious pandemonium: Two nights with The Darkness in Ireland

The Darkness frontman Justin Hawkins and writer Pat Carty worked together as apprentice joiners in the 1990s: 30 years on, we put them together again

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