Jarvis Cocker
Jarvis Cocker is Pulp’s Sheffield-born singer and lyricist, a solo musician, broadcaster and author whose songs find stories in everyday life.
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Jarvis’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
Overview
- From
- Sheffield, England
- Born
- 19 September 1963
- Work
- Singer, songwriter, broadcaster and author
- Started
- Formed Pulp at secondary school in 1978
- Breakout
- Common People and Different Class, 1995
Mini bio
How it started.
Jarvis grew up in Sheffield and formed Pulp while still at secondary school in 1978. The group took years to find a wider audience. He studied at Central Saint Martins from 1988 to 1991, keeping a place for art and film alongside music.
The breakthrough.
His ’n’ Hers in 1994 helped Pulp reach a broader audience. Common People, Different Class and a headline Glastonbury set followed in 1995. His lyrics turned class, desire and awkward everyday encounters into songs fans could recognise themselves in. Different Class won the 1996 Mercury Prize.
Beyond Pulp.
He built a solo career, led JARV IS… and made radio programmes including Sunday Service and Wireless Nights. JARV IS… developed Beyond the Pale from live recordings, then made the soundtrack for This Is Going to Hurt. His books include the lyric collection Mother, Brother, Lover and the object-filled Good Pop, Bad Pop.
What he is doing now.
Pulp returned to recording with More in 2025, followed by Live! and the film What Do You Do For An Encore? in 2026. Alongside the band, Jarvis has been a Booker Prize judge and is curating The Hodge Podge at The Hepworth Wakefield with Kim Sion.
Creditschronological, newest first
Music
- 2026Live!Pulp vocalist and performer
- 2025MorePulp vocalist and lyricist
- 2022This Is Going to Hurt (Original Soundtrack)Soundtrack with JARV IS…
- 2020Beyond the PaleVocals, guitar and percussion with JARV IS…
- 1998This Is HardcorePulp vocalist and lyricist
- 1995Different ClassPulp vocalist and lyricist
Books and film
- 2026Pulp: What Do You Do For An Encore?Narrator and executive producer
- 2022Good Pop, Bad PopAuthor and audiobook narrator
Awards
Quotes
I want to find an author who has looked at the world differently.Jarvis Cocker, The Booker Prizes
Speaking in July 2026 about what he hoped to discover as a Booker Prize judge.
Trivia
- Two Beyond the Pale tracks began with recordings made at Peak Cavern in Derbyshire in April 2018.
- Good Pop, Bad Pop follows objects found while clearing his loft, including broken glasses, clothes and chewing gum.
- He was an editor-at-large at Faber between 2012 and 2014.
- His Booker judging introduced him to using an e-reader so he could travel without carrying a sack of books.
Find Jarvis
Follow Jarvis’s music, reading and radio adventures. His X link goes to Pulp’s shared official account.
Are you Jarvis Cocker?
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