Background and career
Francis Edward Turner (born 28 December 1981) is an English punk and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as the vocalist of post-hardcore band Million Dead, then embarked upon a primarily acoustic-based solo career following the band's split in 2005. In the studio and during live performances, Turner is accompanied by his backing band, The Sleeping Souls, consisting of Ben Lloyd (guitar, mandolin), Tarrant Anderson (bass), Matt Nasir (piano, mandolin) and Callum Green (drums). To date, Turner has released ten solo albums, four rarities compilation albums, one retrospective "best of" album, one split album and five EPs. Turner's ninth studio album, FTHC was released on 11 February 2022 and reached number one in the UK albums chart in the week following its release. Turner is known for his prolific and extensive touring schedule, where he has performed over 3100 shows to date. The tenth and final edition of Turner's yearly festival, Lost Evenings, will take place at Wembley Arena in November 2027 and will mark the beginning of an extended hiatus from performing and recording.
Turner was born to Jane Cartwright, a primary school head teacher, and Miranda Turner, an investment banker, who came out as a trans woman in 2015. Upon returning to England, the family settled first in Winchester before moving to Meonstoke. His maternal grandfather is Richard Fox Cartwright (1913–2009), Bishop of Plymouth. Through Miranda, his grandparents are Sir (Ronald) Mark (Cunliffe) Turner (1906–1980), a merchant banker who was also the chairman of high street retailer BHS, and Margaret, daughter of Sir Hereward Wake, 13th Baronet. As a child, Turner played the piano, before teaching himself to play the guitar at the age of 11. He discovered his love for music through seeing an Iron Maiden poster on his friend's bedroom wall whilst playing Warhammer, and he convinced his parents to buy him a copy of the album Killers and later a guitar. Turner was educated at Summer Fields and subsequently on a scholarship at Eton College, where he studied alongside Prince William. He has since described his experiences of being at boarding school as traumatic, having led to periods of self-harm and suicidal ideation.
The first record Turner owned was the album Killers by Iron Maiden. Metal was the first genre of music he fell in love with, and he remains a passionate fan. Turner's musical career began at school, with the short-lived alternative band Kneejerk. The band released three records and played several shows around the UK. The last record, their only full-length, was titled The Half-Life of Kissing and was released by Yorkshire DIY hardcore label Sakari Empire after the band had broken up. In 2001, Turner joined London post-hardcore band Million Dead at the invitation of former Kneejerk drummer Ben Dawson. In 2005, after four years and two albums, the band announced that they were parting ways, for "irreconcilable differences within the band mean that it would be impossible to continue." Around that time, Turner got a tape with Bruce Springsteen's Nebraska on it; he later said "That was a really big moment for me hearing that record in terms of a turn around in my music career, from hardcore punk bands to what I'm doing now."
Turner's first solo shows took place prior to the break-up of Million Dead, with a set at the Smalltown America all-dayer at 93 Feet East in London. After the band's split, Turner felt that "it seemed like the logical thing to do to try my hand at playing these songs more publicly and more concertedly than before". Turner states that "when Million Dead finished, I wanted to stay on tour, but I didn't want the hassle of putting a band together." After a split EP with rock band Reuben, Turner's first solo EP, Campfire Punkrock, was released in May 2006 on Xtra Mile Recordings, with him being recorded and backed by Oxford band Dive Dive whom he had met while out on tour with Reuben. Band members Tarrant Anderson, Ben Lloyd and Nigel Powell would become his backing band from this point on, with most of his subsequent UK headline tours being full band shows. After Turner toured in support of American singer-songwriter Jonah Matranga, the two released a split EP in August 2006. In September, Turner was the last act to appear on Steve Lamacq's Lamacq Live show on BBC Radio 1. Turner's debut full-length studio album, Sleep Is for the Week was released in January 2007, again recorded at Dive Dive's studio, produced by their guitarist Ben Lloyd and featuring drummer Nigel Powell. After an extensive tour, including dates supporting yourcodenameis:milo and Biffy Clyro, and an appearance at SXSW, Turner released an EP, The Real Damage, in May 2007. After a further tour with Jonah Matranga and Jacob Golden, the "All About The Destination" DVD was released in October 2007, before Turner returned to the studio in Hampshire to record his second album. The album, Love Ire & Song again saw Ben Lloyd from Dive Dive in the producer's seat, and was released on 31 March 2008, followed by an extensive UK tour with Andy Yorke and Chris T-T. T-T also joined the live lineup on keyboards through summer 2008. During summer 2008, Turner made several festival appearances, including sets at Y Not Festival, Two Thousand Trees Festival, the Cambridge Folk Festival, Truck, Glastonbury, Jam by the Lake (in Durham) and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. In October/November, during his 2008 UK Tour for the Love, Ire and Song album, he became ill with gastroenteritis, and was forced to leave the stage in Nottingham halfway through his set. All remaining shows, which included Nottingham, Liverpool and Ireland, were cancelled, the first time that Turner as a solo artist had cancelled any show in 10 years. He went on to reschedule all cancelled shows in January 2009. In December 2008, Turner released The First Three Years, a compilation of demos, B-sides and covers that were not featured on either of his first two studio albums.
In January 2009, Turner released a combined package of Love Ire & Song and The First Three Years, and supported the Gaslight Anthem on their tour of the UK and Europe, demoing several new songs and announcing his plans to record a new album. The new album was produced by Alex Newport. Recording took place in April and May 2009 at Leeders Farm in Norwich and the producer's own studio, Future Shock, in Brooklyn, New York City. Turner's band at the time still consisted of Ben Lloyd, Tarrant Anderson and Nigel Powell from Dive Dive, with keyboardist Matt Nasir having been added on the Love, Ire and Song tour.
Prior to recording Poetry of the Deed, Turner stated that: The new album is about 75% written – in the sense that the songs, as skeletons, are done, but this time round I'm rehearsing the material with my band before we record, so I'm sure that some things will change in terms of structure and arrangement as we settle into them. We're recording the album as a band this time round, I'm really excited about it, the guys I play with are phenomenal musicians, and hopefully this way I'll be able to close the gap a little between live and studio. Material-wise I'm really happy about where I am at the moment, though not complacent; there's a fair amount of pressure for this record, from me more than anyone else. The album is going to be called Poetry of the Deed. Turner was announced as the support act on The Offspring's summer tour, during which he documented his travels with a blog on British music website NME. When talking about the support slot, Turner stated: "Smash was one of the first punk records I ever bought, and I'm blown away to even be considered for the shows. From a "career" point of view, it's also great – playing to many thousands of people a night across the States is an opportunity not to be sniffed at." On 28 April 2009, Turner signed with Epitaph Records for releases outside the UK. Turner's third studio album, Poetry of the Deed, was released on 7 September 2009, and reached No. 36 in the UK album chart. The album's first single, "The Road", received the status of 'Hottest Record in the World Today' by BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe on 14 July 2009. The track, "Poetry of the Deed", was released as the second single from the album. In late 2009, Turner embarked upon a UK tour with his band in support of the album (with singer-songwriter Beans On Toast and US band Fake Problems as support acts), culminating in a sell-out show at the O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire on 29 October 2009. A live DVD/CD, entitled Take to the Road, documenting two shows from the tour (O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire and the Union Chapel) was released in the UK in March 2010. In November 2009, Turner toured the US alongside Chuck Ragan, Jim Ward, Tim Barry, Joey Cape, Dave Hause, and others, as part of the 2009 Revival Tour. Turner returned to Europe on 28 November and to the UK on 19 December. He completed the year with a New Year's Eve show at The Spiegeltent in Gloucester. In early 2010, Turner played several more UK gigs, with Chuck Ragan and Crazy Arm supporting. He also accompanied Flogging Molly and The Architects on the 2010 Green 17 Tour, and announced via his Twitter that he was working on new songs. From 22 April to 1 May 2010, Turner toured Australia with Chuck Ragan, Tim Barry, and Ben Nichols of Lucero for the 2010 Revival Tour. In May 2010 Turner travelled to China to play a six city tour with promoters Split Works. In June 2010 he supported Green Day on their stadium shows, and also featured as the cover star of Kerrang! magazine for the first time, with an article inside documenting his solo career up to that point. Turner played at many festivals throughout the summer of 2010, including his headlining appearance at the Two Thousand Trees Festival, playing his new song "I Still Believe". The song was released first as a single and then appeared on his Rock & Roll EP. Turner also contributed one song, a cover of "Build Me Up Buttercup", to Centrepoint's 2010 charity cover album 1969 Key to Change. On 24 September 2010, Turner released Buddies, a 10 track split album with American alternative country artist, Jon Snodgrass. The pair recorded the album in Colorado whilst on tour together.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (October 2026), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
