The Pretty Reckless

Ask who fronts a New York rock band that has built a serious following on both sides of the Atlantic, and the answer is an unlikely one: Taylor Momsen, a former actress best known for How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Gossip Girl. Formed in New York City in 2009, the band is completed by Ben Phillips on lead guitar, Mark Damon on bass and Jamie Perkins on drums, while Momsen takes lead vocals and rhythm guitar.

Their debut album, Light Me Up, arrived in August 2010, and its "Make Me Wanna Die" also featured on the soundtrack of Kick-Ass. Support slots with Evanescence in 2011 widened their audience. Going to Hell, released in March 2014, produced "Heaven Knows" and "Messed Up World (F'd Up World)", both of which topped the US and UK rock charts. Who You Selling For followed in October 2016, with "Take Me Down" giving the band their fourth US rock number one. Death by Rock and Roll, released in February 2021, took its title track to number one on the Mainstream Rock chart, a milestone that made them the first female-fronted band to have seven singles top it.