Sheffield Music Scene

Sheffield has been the home of numerous eminent bands and musicians.

Artists such as Pulp, Def Leppard, Joe Cocker, Richard Hawley, Longpigs, Milburn and Moloko, along with many other popular and alternative musicians, were born in Sheffield. The city has also generated an unusually large number of synth pop and other electronic outfits such as The Human League, Heaven 17, ABC and Cabaret Voltaire.

In the early 1990s Sheffield enjoyed a thriving Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene and Goa trance scene, with techno label Warp Records going on to become one of Britain's oldest and best-loved dance music labels. Continuing the electronic tradition, other popular genres of electronic music such as bassline house have since originated in the city.

Recently, several indie bands, including Arctic Monkeys and The Long Blondes, have emerged from Sheffield as part of what the NME dubbed the New Yorkshire movement.

In 1999 the National Centre for Popular Music, a museum dedicated to the subject, was opened in the city. However, this was not as successful as was hoped, and subsequently evolved into a live music venue before becoming the students' union building for Sheffield Hallam University.

Sheffield is also home to several local orchestras and choirs. These include the Sheffield Symphony Orchestra, the Sheffield Philharmonic Orchestra, the City of Sheffield Youth Orchestra, and the Sheffield Philharmonic Chorus.

Sheffield's numerous live music venues include Sheffield Arena, the Harley Hotel, Leadmill, West Street Live, the Boardwalk, Dove & Rainbow, The Casbah, The Cremorne, Corporation, New Barrack Tavern, The Runaway Girl, the City Hall, the University of Sheffield, the Studio Theatre at the Crucible Theatre, the O2 Academy Sheffield, and The Grapes.