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"Antony and the Johnsons are an award-winning music act from New York City. The band is essentially the vehicle for singer Antony (full name Antony Hegarty). Born in Chichester, West Sussex, England in 1971, leader Antony moved to Amsterdam in 1977 for 18 months before settling in San Jose, California in 1981. As a teenager he was enthused by the British synth pop of the time - in particular emotive torch singers such as Marc Almond and Boy George. In 1990 he moved to Manhattan and founded the performance collective Blacklips with creative partner Johanna Constantine.

One theme presented in the band's music is aspects of transgender life. Antony identifies as transgender. This is often expressed in songs such as 'For Today I Am A Boy', in which a young boy dreams of growing up to be a woman. British experimental musician David Tibet of Current 93 heard a demo and offered to release Antony's music through his Durtro label. The debut album, Antony and the Johnsons, was released in 1998. In 2001, Antony released a short follow-up EP, I Fell in Love with a Dead Boy, which, in addition to the title track, included a cover of a David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti song and 'Soft Black Stars', a cover of a Current 93 song.

Producer Hal Willner heard the EP and played it to Lou Reed, who immediately recruited him for his project The Raven. Now gaining more attention, Antony signed to US-based record label Secretly Canadian, and released another EP, The Lake, with Lou Reed guest-performing on one of the tracks. Secretly Canadian also re-released Antony's debut album in the United States to wider distribution in 2004. Antony's second full-length album, 2005's I Am a Bird Now, gained rave reviews and significantly more mainstream attention, winning the Mercury Music Prize for the best album of 2005. Rival Mercury nominees, and favourites for the prize, the Kaiser Chiefs suggested that Antony got in on a technicality; despite the fact he was born in the United Kingdom he spent much of his time in the US - although they later apologised for the suggestion that he wasn't a deserving winner."

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