JOY CROOKES

SINGER

Joy’s musical style often draws parallels with Amy Winehouse, but both she and her sound resist any oversimplified definitions.

Growing up in South London with Irish and Bangladeshi heritage, Joy has cited a diverse range of musical inspirations: from popular songs by Kishore Kumar and Van Morrison, to protest songs by The Clash and Nina Simone. This is reflected in the diversity of Joy’s songs, which look at everything from heartbreak to gentrification. She taught herself the guitar, bass and keyboard, and began writing her own music at 12, uploading original songs to her YouTube channel. Joy’s big break came after she uploaded a cover of Ray Charles’ Hit The Road Jack – and caught the eye of her now-management team. Her debut album Skin has since made it into the UK Top 5, alongside established artists like Adele and Coldplay. Joy has also been nominated for a BRITs Rising Star award, and had hundreds of millions of streams on Spotify and Soundcloud. 

True to her genre-defying quality, Joy is also known for playing with her style and aesthetics, often incorporating henna, costume jewellery and colourful fabrics to nod to her Bengali roots. She famously attended the 2020 BRIT Awards in a yellow lehenga, calling her attire a middle finger to the lack of South Asian representation in the music industry.