Hozier, “Take Me to Church”
Hozier was born in Bray, Ireland, the son of a local blues musician. He attended St. Gerard’s School before he began studying music at Trinity College, Dublin, but dropped out midway through his first year to record demos for Universal Music. While at Trinity, he became involved with the Trinity Orchestra. He was a member of the chorale ensemble Anúna from 2007 to 2012, and appears as a soloist on their 2012 release Illumination singing “La Chanson de Mardi Gras. He toured and sang with the group internationally including performances in Norway and the Netherlands.
In 2013, Hozier released the EP Take Me to Church (also containing “Like Real People Do”, “Angel of Small Death and The Codeine Scene” and a live version of “Cherry Wine”), with the title track becoming his breakthrough single after it went viral on YouTube. It reached number one on iTunes on 25 October 2013. Hozier followed up Take Me to Church with the new EP From Eden (also containing “Work Song”, “Arsonist’s Lullabye” and a live version of “To Be Alone”), and a number of festival tour dates and television appearances in the United States.