Manic Street Preachers (also informally referred to as the Manics) are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood, Caerphilly, in 1986. Since 1995, the band has been a three-piece of Nicky Wire (bass/lyrics) and cousins James Dean Bradfield (vocals/guitar/occasional lyrics) and Sean Moore (drums). They form a key part of the 1990s Welsh Cool Cymru cultural movement. The band's early releases were in a punk vein, eventually broadening to a wider alternative rock sound. Their early combination of androgynous glam... [more on Wikipedia]