Led by frontman Jarvis Cocker, the English rock band Pulp had their biggest success in the ’90s and were considered one of Britpop’s “big four,” alongside Oasis, Blur, and Suede.
∙ The Sheffield group’s 1981 recordings with BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel—eventually released on the 2006 live album The Peel Sessions—made them stars in their hometown scene.
∙ Their biggest LP was 1995’s Different Class, which debuted at the top of the UK charts, produced four hit singles, and won the Mercury Prize.
∙ From 1995’s dance tune “Common People” to 1997’s Beatlesque ballad “Help the Aged,” Pulp had five consecutive Top 10 singles in the UK.
∙ British newspaper The Guardian named 1998’s “This Is Hardcore”—which addressed fame through the lens of pornography—one of their 10 best songs.
∙ Cocker wrote three songs for and appeared in 2005’s Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, fronting wizard rock band The Weird Sisters during the Yule Ball.
∙ The feature documentary Pulp: A Film About Life, Death and Supermarkets, which premiered at the SXSW Film festival, won the NME Best Music Film Award in 2015.