The iconic 80s band Tears for Fears will make a tour stop in Franklin at FirstBank Amphitheater on Tuesday, July 11th with special guest Cold War Kids. Find tickets here.
Tears for Fears was formed in 1981 and founded by Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith from Bath, England. Smith now lives in Los Angeles and became a naturalized citizen in 2007.
Here are 5 things you may not know about Tears for Fears.
1. This wasn’t the duo’s first band.
Orzabal and Smith were previously in the short-lived band Graduate that was formed in 1978. That band saw little success and broke up in 1981.
2. The band name was inspired by therapy
As a teenager, Orzabal was introduced to the writing of psychologist Arthur Janov, famous for introducing scream therapy and having John Lennon as a patient. The band name came about when they read about using “tears as a replacement for fears” in Janov’s 1980 book, Prisoners Of Pain.
3. Both were raised by single mothers
Both Smith and Orzabal were raised by single mothers. Smith revealed to VICE, “We both come from broken homes. We were both brought up solely by our mothers, more or less.”
4. They reached international success with their second album
Songs from the Big Chair released in 1985, sold over 10 million copies worldwide and topped the US album charts for five weeks, peaking at #2 in the UK. Five singles from the album reached the UK Top 30, with Shout reaching #4, and their highest charting hit, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, reaching #2. Both singles reached #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
5. Smith and Orzabal didn’t speak for almost a decade
Smith left the band in the early 90s while Orzabal kept the band name and continued to make music. The two didn’t speak for nearly a decade. In the early 2000s, the two reconnected for band business and came together to release an album in 2004 titled Everybody Loves a Happy Ending. Their latest album Tipping Point was released in 2022, the first studio album in 17 years and the name of the band’s current tour.
