50 Fun Facts About Mumford & Sons

In which year was Mumford & Sons formed?

They were lumped into a so-called 'West London folk scene' with Noah and the Whale and Johnny Flynn, a label the band dismissed as 'a community, not a scene'.

Which instrument does Ben Lovett play in the band?

He said the band name was meant to evoke 'an antiquated family business name'.

Sigh No More peaked at which position on both the UK Albums Chart and the US Billboard 200?

It won the Brit Award for British Album of the Year and every studio album since has debuted at No. 1 in the US.

Which 2012 album won the band the Grammy for Album of the Year?

It sold 600,000 copies in its first US week, the biggest debut of 2012, and 158,000 in the UK.

What was the title of the band's first EP, released in November 2008 on Chess Club Records?

It took a year to complete, and 'Little Lion Man' was the only track carried over to the debut album.

Which member left the band in 2021 after a Twitter row over his praise for a book by Andy Ngo?

The banjo player said he was leaving so he could speak his mind without his bandmates suffering the consequences.

Sigh No More takes its title from a line in which Shakespeare play?

'Roll Away Your Stone' borrows from Macbeth, and 'The Cave' nods to The Odyssey and G. K. Chesterton.

'Timshel' and 'Dust Bowl Dance' draw heavily on the novels of which American author?

East of Eden, Of Mice and Men and The Grapes of Wrath are all in the mix.

How did the band pay for the recording of Sigh No More?

They told the Herald Sun it was to avoid the artistic and technical compromises of studio-financed projects.

Why did Markus Dravs initially turn the band away from the Sigh No More sessions?

The band self-financed the album to avoid the compromises that come with studio money.

What did Marcus Mumford take from touring Australia with Laura Marling in 2008?

Marling's disinclination to interact with crowds pushed him into the spotlight, and he resolved to keep his own shows casual and conversational.

'Little Lion Man' topped which Australian radio poll for 2009 by a record margin?

The band went on to win an ARIA for Most Popular International Artist in 2010.

At the 2011 Grammys the band performed 'The Cave' in a segment with which legend and the Avett Brothers?

US sales of the debut album jumped 99 per cent after the ceremony.

Which Kinks frontman recorded 'Days/This Time Tomorrow' with the band for his collaborations album?

Mumford said he was 'more excited about that than I have been about anything before in my life'.

The band's 2010 EP with Dharohar Project and Laura Marling was recorded in which city?

Traditional Rajasthani musicians joined them in a makeshift studio.

The 2011 Railroad Revival Tour saw the band travel between shows how?

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros and a Nashville string band came along, and the film Big Easy Express won a Grammy.

Which US band did Marcus Mumford credit with making him fall in love with country music at 16 or 17?

Frontman Ketch Secor said, 'Those boys took the message and ran with it.'

Mumford & Sons recorded 'Learn Me Right' with singer Birdy for which Pixar film?

They had also written two songs for Andrea Arnold's Wuthering Heights, including 'Enemy' over the closing credits.

The Babel concert film Road to Red Rocks was recorded at a venue in which US state?

The 'I Will Wait' performance from the show became the song's official video.

Which member had surgery to remove a blood clot from his brain in June 2013?

The band cancelled the rest of its Summer Stampede Tour but was back on a festival main stage three weeks later.

Mumford & Sons headlined which festival on 30 June 2013?

Their first Glastonbury appearance had been in June 2008, a year before their debut album.

What is Gentlemen of the Road?

Its Stopover Festivals deliberately visit towns bands rarely tour, with support acts hand-picked by the band.

Which instrument, once synonymous with the band, is absent from 2015's Wilder Mind?

Its player had swapped it for electric guitar in sound checks, and the band jammed Radiohead tunes at the end of the Babel tour.

Who produced Wilder Mind, as the band tried something new after two records with Markus Dravs?

Lovett said they were 'just playing the field' and had not broken up with Dravs.

Where did the band make its live return in March 2015 with an intimate show for family and friends?

They previewed Wilder Mind there over three nights; the Brighton show for mailing-list members came in May.

For Record Store Day 2015 the band let fans hear Wilder Mind early by doing what?

A limited 7-inch of 'Believe'/'The Wolf' was released the same day.

The band's 2016 EP was named after which city?

It followed Wilder Mind's No. 1 debuts in the UK, US and Australia.

Which producer made Delta, recorded mainly at The Church Studios in London?

Maggie Rogers, Yebba and Gill Landry guested; 'Guiding Light' was the lead single.

Which Nine Inch Nails song did the band cover on the Delta Tour EP?

The EP also carried covers of the Middle East's 'Blood' and the Beatles' 'With a Little Help from My Friends'.

What name did Marcus Mumford give his 2022 solo debut album?

Its singles were 'Cannibal', 'Grace' and 'Better Off High'.

'Good People', the band's first release after Marshall left, was made with which producer?

It arrived in January 2024, five months after the band debuted 'Maybe' live at Beach Road Weekend.

Rushmere, the band's first album in seven years, was co-produced by whom?

Released in March 2025, it was followed by a relaunched Railroad Revival Tour along the US East Coast.

Which Irish singer features on 'Rubber Band Man', a single from 2026's Prizefighter?

Gracie Abrams, Chris Stapleton and Gigi Perez also guest on the album.

Marcus Mumford's parents lead the UK and Ireland branch of which Christian movement?

Mumford has said 'We're fans of faith, not religion' and does not call himself a Christian.

Which soundtrack does the band cite as the start of its love of American roots music?

Emmylou Harris was another 'gateway artist' on the way to old-time American music.

Which manager, who also handles Keane and Laura Marling, took the band on in early 2008?

His connection put them in front of Island A&R man Louis Bloom, who watched them for six months before signing.

Which label handled the band in North America under the 2009 licensing deal?

Island had the UK, Dew Process took Australia and New Zealand, and Cooperative Music the rest of the world.

Sigh No More is certified how many times platinum in the UK?

In the US it is double platinum; UK sales jumped 266 per cent after the Brit Awards.

Which US city did Ben Lovett credit with easing the band's songwriting on Babel, before they recorded Delta?

They announced the second album was under way at a Kansas City show in June 2011.

Which US festival did the band cancel in 2013 during Dwane's recovery, then headline in 2015?

They also headlined Reading and Leeds that summer.

Which lead single from Babel premiered on Zane Lowe's BBC Radio 1 show in August 2012?

Its official video was the live performance from the Red Rocks concert, released days before the full DVD.

Which single introduced the album Delta on BBC Radio 1 in September 2018?

The album followed in November with guest turns from Maggie Rogers, Yebba and Gill Landry.

'The Cave' contains several references to the sirens of which ancient epic?

The song also leans on G. K. Chesterton's book about St Francis of Assisi, which uses Plato's cave to explain the saint's view of the world.

What was the first single from Wilder Mind, sent to radio in March 2015?

The band pressed it with 'The Wolf' on a limited 7-inch for Record Store Day a few weeks later.

Which was the only song carried over from the band's 2008 debut EP onto Sigh No More?

Zane Lowe made it his 'Hottest Record in the World' in July 2009, and XFM's Dave Berry called it his favourite track of the year.

The title of 'Roll Away Your Stone' alludes to which Shakespeare play?

The song pares down a line from act 1, scene 4 in which the title character asks the stars to hide their fires.

The band's first performance on US network television, in February 2010, was for which host?

Nine days later they played 'The Cave' for Craig Ferguson, and a Grammy-night performance the following year lifted US sales by 99 percent.

The band recorded two songs for Andrea Arnold's 2011 adaptation of which novel?

One of them, 'Enemy', plays over the closing credits of the film.

Which documentary about the 2011 train tour won the band a Grammy for Best Long Form Video?

Directed by Emmett Malloy, it premiered at SXSW in March 2012 and took the Headliner Audience Award there.

The first Stopover of the 2013 tour was held in which East Sussex town?

Later stops that year included Simcoe in Ontario, Troy in Ohio, Guthrie in Oklahoma and St. Augustine in Florida.