Damon Gough (stage name Badly Drawn Boy) was born in October 1969 in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, and grew up in Breightmet, near Bolton. His stage name comes from the title character in the show “Sam and his Magic Ball”, which Gough saw on TV at a party in Trafford, Manchester in 1995. His recording career began in September 1997 with the 5 track vinyl release "EP1", which was distributed among friends and family members (only 500 copies were pressed). In April 1998, a second EP, "EP2", was released, featuring 1 track less than its predecessor with twice as many copies produced (the track "I Love You All" was later transferred to a music box, which was released alongside the EP – the box plays 11 seconds of the song and is considered much rarer than the record itself due to its limited production). Gough’s third EP, "EP3", was released in November 1998 on both CD and vinyl formats, from which the single "Road Movie" was released as a live recording with Doves. “It Came From The Ground” was the next EP, released in March 1999 on both CD and vinyl, along with the single "Whirlpool". Gough's last EP, “Once Around the Block” was released in August 1999 in 2 vinyl formats and 1 CD edition - the release is almost short enough to be considered a single.

Debut LP, “The Hour of Bewilderbeast” was released in June 2000, accompanied by 4 singles (including a re-release of “Once Around the Block”) – it won the 2000 Mercury Music Prize, and sold over 300,000 copies. The Weitz brothers then asked Gough to score the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's novel “About a Boy”, resulting in an album of the same name released in April 2002, from which 3 singles were released over the course of 2002. Third album “Have You Fed The Fish?” (November 2002) produced another 3 singles, and was accompanied by a long US tour.

On returning from the US, “One Plus One Is One” became Badly Drawn Boy’s 4th studio album, recorded in Stockport, Greater Manchester, and released in June 2004. It was however his last album with XL Recordings (a relationship that dated back to his third EP) and he signed to EMI. 2 years went by before 5th album, “Born In The UK” was released in October 2006.