Although the band reunited, Justin Hawkins continues to feel guilt for playing a part in the Darkness splitting. While the singer struggled to break into the business for some time, he eventually found his way to the airwaves with The Darkness. The band’s debut album, Permission To Land featured the hit song “I Believe in a Thing Called Love.” Released in 2003, the album helped them garner a massive following. But just a few years later, the band split. Now, Hawkins is sharing his thoughts on their time in the spotlight with a documentary on the way.
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Currently on tour, Hawkins took a moment during a performance to discuss his time with The Darkness. He revealed to Manchester fans that he often “felt really bad” for his brother Dan. Not taking the spotlight for himself, he admitted that his brother was the mastermind behind the band’s success. Hawkins added, “Silly old Justin took all the drugs and [messed] it up.” Having his constant struggles with addiction, Hawkins also detailed the weight of having to “live with the consequences of that,” referring to the break-up.
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Not A Rockstar At 18
Even before the group took over the charts, Hawkins believed himself too old for rock stardom. He was just 18 at the time, but said, “I remember when I got to about 18 and I saw bands like Ash coming up and thinking, ‘Well this is over, I’m already too old!’ But I still wanted to be in music, so I went and studied music technology and got a job in a recording studio.”
[RELATED: Meet The Band Who Wrote “I Believe In A Thing Called Love”]
After recording some songs as a Christmas present for his grandfather, a publishing company reached out to the singer for what he called “easy listening stuff.” That stuff ended up being huge. “I did a lot of stuff. I did HSBC, Mars Bars, Audi… and then I did the Ikea advert, which basically paid for our first album and bought me and my brother our first Les Pauls.”
The documentary, Welcome to the Darkness, comes from director Simon Emmett. The story follows the dramatic rise and fall of the band throughout the early 2000s.
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(Photo by Mike Windle/Getty Images)
