Richard Willis Hawley (born 17 January 1967) is an English guitarist, singer-songwriter and producer. After his first band Treebound Story (formed while he was still at school) broke up, Hawley found success as a member of Britpop band Longpigs in the 1990s. After that group broke up in 2000, he later joined the band Pulp, led by his friend Jarvis Cocker, for a short time. As a solo musician, Hawley has released seven studio albums. He has been nominated for a Mercury prize twice and once for a Brit Award. He has collaborated with Lisa Marie Presley, Arctic Monkeys, Manic Street Preachers, Elbow and Paul Weller.\n', '

Born in Sheffield, Hawley grew up with two sisters in a working-class area of the city. He was born with a cleft palate, which required numerous operations. Both his parents were musicians, his father David a guitarist with a number of local bands, and his mother Lynne a singer. They divorced when he was 16 years old. He noted that "I always wrote songs since childhood" and realising that "you could actually make something up of your own was quite a big one then". He attended Hucklow Middle School together with future Pulp bassist Steve Mackey, and passed his O-levels. Hawley briefly worked at the local HMV.\n', '

While still at school, Hawley formed the Treebound Story and at the age of 19 recorded a Peel Session together with the band.\n', '

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