Snow Patrol (previously Shrug/Polar Bears) are a British indie/alternative rock band, currently consisting of Gary Lightbody on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, Nathan Connolly on lead guitar, Paul Wilson on bass guitar, Tom Simpson on keyboards and Jonny Quinn on drums and percussion.

Founded as ‘Shrug’ by the University of Dundee students Michael Morrison, Mark McClelland and Gary Lightbody in 1994, the group released their first EP Yoghurt vs. Yoghurt Debate the following year – although Morrison left shortly after this. The group decided to change their name to ‘Polar Bears’ for the release of their second EP Starfighter Pilot, but ran into conflict with another band of the same name so were forced into yet another name change.

Now known as ‘Snow Patrol’, the group singed with the Scottish indie label Jeepster and released their debut album Songs for Polarbears in 1998. It spawned four singles – Little Hide, One Hundred Things You Should Have Done in Bed, Velocity Girl/Absolute Gravity and Starfighter Pilot – but failed to even reach the Top 100 on the UK Album Charts. And their second album When It’s All Over We Still Have to Clear Up was a similar story… although critically praised, it peaked at #129 on the charts and produced two unsuccessful singles: Ask Me How I Am and One Night Is Not Enough. The group were subsequently dropped from their label.

After a couple of years of uncertainty the group signed to Polydor and immediately began working on their third album. Released in August 2003, Final Straw was their mainstream breakthrough, reaching number three in the UK Albums Chart. The lead single Run became a huge hit, reaching the Top 5 in the UK, while the follow up singles Chocolate, Spitting Games and How to Be Dead all made the Top 40.

Mark McClelland left the band in March 2005 before the release of the group’s second album Eyes Open. It shot to number one in the UK Albums Chart, eventually selling over two million copies, and produced the smash hit Chasing Cars (which also reached the Top 5 in the US), as well as the Top 20 singles You’re All I Have and Set the Fire to the Third Bar.

Snow Patrol’s fifth studio album A Hundred Million Suns was released in October 2008, reaching number two in the UK and producing the Top 10 hit Take Back the City, as well as the singles Crack the Shutter, If There’s a Rocket Tie Me to It and The Planets Bend Between Us. The group are currently working on their sixth album, set to be released in early 2011.

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