Michael Clifford (musician)

Michael Gordon Clifford (born on 20 November 1995) is an Australian singer-songwriter and musician, known for being a member of the Australian pop rock band, 5 Seconds of Summer. Since 2014, the band have sold more than 10 million albums, sold over 2 million concert tickets worldwide, and the band's songs streams surpass 7 billion,[1][2] making them one of Australia's most successful musical exports in history.[3][4]

Michael Clifford
Clifford performing on stage in 2019
Background information
Birth nameMichael Gordon Clifford
Born (1995-11-20) 20 November 1995
Quakers Hill, New South Wales, Australia
Genres
Occupation(s)
  • Singer-songwriter
  • musician
Instruments
  • Vocals
  • guitar
Years active2011–present
Labels
Associated acts5 Seconds of Summer

Early Life

Michael Gordon Clifford was born on 20 November 1995 and raised in the Quakers Hill suburb of Sydney, New South Wales.[5]  He is the only child of parents Karen and Daryl Clifford, who ran a computer business based outside of Sydney.[6] Clifford attended Norwest Primary school where he befriended future band-mate Calum Hood in the third grade.[7] For his high-school education, Clifford attended Norwest Christian college where he met band-mate, Luke Hemmings in Year 7. He later revealed that he initially "hated" Hemmings for "a solid year" before becoming friends and forming the band.[8] Clifford met future band-mate Ashton Irwin through mutual friends in Year 9. Admitting in a People magazine interview that he "spent a lot of time away from school", Clifford's irregular attendance eventually resulted in him leaving high-school entirely when he was in Year 10 and instead, completing a course at TAFE.[9][10]

Clifford first learned how to play guitar from the video game, Guitar Hero, when he was eight years old.[5] Growing up, Clifford took both singing lessons and piano lessons before quitting because he "hated" them. At the age of eleven, his parents bought him an acoustic guitar and Clifford began taking guitar lessons.[5] In high-school, Clifford joined his school's church band to play the instrument.[11]

Career
Main article: 5 Seconds of Summer

In 2011, Clifford, Hood and Hemmings began posting song covers on Hemmings' Youtube channel. The trio eventually added mutual friend Ashton Irwin to their videos, forming the current 5 Seconds of Summer lineup.[12]  After months of posting song covers together, the band began attracting interest from major music labels and publishers and initially signed a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing.[13] Clifford has since released four studio albums with the band, each met with worldwide success: 5 Seconds of Summer (2014), Sounds Good Feels Good (2015), Youngblood (2018), and Calm (2020).[14]

At the NAMM Show in January 2019, Clifford, in collaboration with Gibson, revealed the Michael Clifford Signature Melody Maker guitar. The guitar was released for purchase in May 2019, with Clifford citing his main inspiration for the guitar being his own first guitar, Joan Jett's Melody Maker.[15] He stated that the goal of his Melody Maker was to "be an homage to the Joan Jett Melody Maker" and that he hoped the guitar would "inspire" someone, just as Jett inspired him.[15]

In June 2019, it was revealed Clifford had partnered with Nightfood Ice Cream in developing a custom chocolate flavor for the brand.[16]

Apart from the band, Clifford has expressed interest in gaming.[17] His Twitch account, which he uses to live-stream game sessions, has amassed nearly 65,000 followers.[18][19] During the Australian Bushfires in January 2020, Clifford held a charity Twitch live-stream, in which all proceeds were donated to Australian Red Cross.[20]

Personal Life

Clifford has been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.[21][22] Since the beginning of his career, Clifford has used his platform to raise awareness and be an advocate for mental health. [23][24][25] In June 2015, Clifford suffered minor face, hair, and shoulder injuries from a pyrotechnics accident during the band's Rock Out With Your Socks Out Tour at the SSE Wembley Arena in London.[26]

Clifford began dating model and talent manager Crystal Leigh in January 2016.[27] The couple got engaged in January 2019,[28][29] with the wedding date set to take place in January 2021.[30]

In 2019, it was reported that Clifford bought an eight-bedroom, 4-acre mansion in Los Angeles' Valley Village neighborhood located in San Fernando Valley.[31] As of 2020, Clifford's net-worth is estimated to be $25 million (USD).[32]

Discography
Main article: 5 Seconds of Summer discography

Song credits
Year Title Artist Album Notes
2018 "Wake Up" Black Veil Brides Vale Composer[33]
gollark: Computers could certainly not send their ID with every ping, but as of now they, well, do send it.
gollark: It runs on raw `modem`. For distances.
gollark: Nope!
gollark: `gps`, not `rednet`.
gollark: (or even, by multilaterating the position of the computer sending the GPS ping, break GPS for *specific locations*, to make them... possibly harder to target for some things, I don't know)

References
  1. "5 SECONDS OF SUMMER: Umusic". Umusic. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  2. "5 Seconds of Summer". Billboard. 31 January 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  3. "Australia's Annual Music Exports Worth $137M: Report". Billboard. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  4. "Why 5SOS are finally feeling the love in Australia". Sunshine Coast Daily. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
  5. Hey, Lets Make a Band!. 2014. p. 25. ISBN 9780062366443.
  6. "Michael Clifford". People. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  7. "5 Seconds Of Summer on their addiction to board games (and boots)". British GQ. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  8. "5 Seconds of Summer Band Members Were Once Frenemies". People. Archived from the original on 15 May 2017. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  9. "5SOS on leaving school to pursue music: 'We had to prove to our parents it was worth it'". Pressparty. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  10. Creswell, Toby (9 March 2013). "The songs may change but the story of a hit remains the same". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
  11. Doyle, Patrick (8 January 2016). "21 Things We Learned Hanging Out With 5 Seconds of Summer". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 3 September 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  12. "Meet 5 Seconds Of Summer, Your Hosts For This Evenings Entertainment". Music Feeds. 14 May 2012. Archived from the original on 23 September 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  13. Creswell, Toby (30 July 2012). "Smells Like Teen Spirit". The Age. Melbourne. Retrieved 11 August 2012.
  14. Savage, Mark (24 June 2018). "5SOS on demons, lies and gun control". BBC News. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  15. Campbell, Rachel (28 May 2019). "Michael Clifford on "the best guitar that [he's] ever played"". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 2 June 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
  16. "Nightfood Ice Cream Partners with 5 Seconds of Summer's Michael Clifford". NOSH. 26 June 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  17. Vidani, Peter. "My Tech: Michael Clifford". Daily 5sos Updates. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. Serra, Maria (24 March 2020). "10 musicians streaming games and rocking out on Twitch". Alternative Press. Archived from the original on 10 April 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  19. "michaelclifford - Statistics". TwitchTracker. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  20. "Michael Clifford to Host Charity Stream for Red Cross". The Honey POP. 19 January 2020. Archived from the original on 26 February 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  21. Campbell, Rachel (12 August 2018). ""It gets bad before it gets better:" 5SOS's Michael Clifford on mental health". Alternative Press. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  22. "5SOS' Michael Clifford opens up about mental health on stage". EW.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  23. In-Depth. "5SOS' Michael Clifford on Mental Health: Why You Should Listen". Fuse. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  24. "5SOS' Michael Opened Up About Seeing A Therapist And It's A Really Big Deal". PopBuzz. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  25. "Michael Clifford Proves Real Bands Really DO Save Fans". The Honey POP. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  26. "Five Seconds of Summer guitarist Michael Clifford burnt on stage". BBC Newsbeat. 14 June 2015. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  27. McGahan, Michelle. "Michael Clifford Goes Public With His Relationship". Bustle. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  28. "5 Seconds of Summer's Michael Clifford Engaged to Girlfriend Crystal Leigh". People. Archived from the original on 31 March 2020. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  29. "5 Seconds of Summer's Michael Clifford Is Engaged to Crystal Leigh". E! News. 16 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 February 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  30. Samhan, Jamie (17 February 2020). "5 Seconds Of Summer Guitarist Michael Clifford Reveals His Wedding Date To Crystal Leigh". ET Canada. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  31. "5SOS guitarist Michael Clifford nabs a mansion where he can entertain". Los Angeles Times. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  32. "The Richest Bands In The World". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  33. Wake Up - Black Veil Brides | Song Info | AllMusic, retrieved 27 July 2020
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