Loyle Carner

Benjamin Gerard Coyle-Larner^[2][3] was born on 6 October 1994 in Lambeth, South London.^[4][5] He and his younger brother, Ryan, were raised in South Croydon by his mother, Jean, a teacher of children with learning difficulties, and his stepfather, Nik.^[6][7] He has contact with his biological father, Robert Nicholas Junior Carter, who is of Guyanese descent.^[7]

Carner is mixed race.^[8] His stage name is a spoonerism of his double-barrelled surname as well as a reference to his childhood struggle with his ADHD and dyslexia diagnoses.^[9][10][11]

At the age of 13, Carner had a small role in the 2008 film 10,000 BC.^[12] He started his secondary education at Whitgift School in South Croydon, then after having secured a scholarship moved on to study at the Brit School for Performing Arts and Technology. He was then accepted into the Drama Centre where he began a degree in acting.^[13][8][14] In 2014, he dropped out of the Drama Centre after his stepfather died of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP), deciding to focus on his music.^[7] Reflecting on this decision, Carner said: "It changed my life not just by making money from it but also by meeting all the people I know. All the people I love are connected to this thing of ours."^[15]

Carner played his first official gig at The Button Factory in Dublin, Ireland in October 2012 supporting rapper MF Doom.^[16] He released his first extended play in September 2014, titled A Little Late, which was well received by music critics.^[7] Carner supported American rapper Joey Badass on his UK tour and went on to play the 2015 UK festival season, including Glastonbury Festival.^[17][18] He played on Huw Stephens' BBC Radio 1 show as part of their Piano Sessions series in October of that year.^[19] Carner was included in the BBC's Sound of 2016 list.^[20] In August 2016, he supported American rapper Nas in his show at the O2 Academy Bristol.^[21] Later in the year, he collaborated with poet Kae Tempest for a performance.^[22]

Carner's debut album, entitled Yesterday's Gone, was released on 20 January 2017.^[23] It garnered acclaim from music critics,^[2][24] with The Independent naming it the album of the year.^[25] The album was nominated for the 2017 Mercury Prize, but the prize was won by Sampha for Process.^[26]

In 2018, he received two respective Brit Award nominations for British Breakthrough Act and British Male Solo Artist.^[27] He was scheduled to perform on BBC Radio 1 in February 2018 but cancelled due to a disagreement over cover song choices.^[25] Carner's second album, Not Waving, but Drowning, was released on 19 April 2019.^[28] On 30 June, he performed as part of the year's Glastonbury Festival on its Other Stage, marking his second appearance after playing the John Peel Stage the year before.^[29] The song "Angel" was listed as part of the FIFA 20 soundtrack playlist.^[30] In 2020, Carner and his brother co-directed a music video for the song "Eugene" by Arlo Parks.^[31]

Carner's third studio album, Hugo, was released on 21 October 2022.^[32] It was met with critical acclaim. At Metacritic the album received an average score of 87, based on 8 reviews.^[33] Hugo was nominated for the 2023 Mercury Prize, but lost to Ezra Collective's Where I'm Meant to Be.^[34]

Carner headlined Glastonbury's West Holts stage in 2023. During his set, he brought up former youth MP Athian Akec on stage, who gave a speech about the knife crimes in the UK.^[35][36]

On 24 May 2024, Carner released his first live album, Hugo: Reimagined (Live from the Royal Albert Hall).^[37] Recorded during his performance at the Royal Albert Hall in October 2023, it includes all songs from his album Hugo, as well as some songs from his previous albums.^[38]

On 20 June 2025, Carner released his fourth studio album, Hopefully!.^[39] In its first charting week, Hopefully! opened at number-two on the UK Albums Chart, marking it his highest charting album in the country.^[40]

Carner has been confirmed to be performing at the Soundstorm 2025 Music Festival in Banban, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in December 2025. ^[41]

Carner employs a "languid" style of rapping.^[8] His sound has been described as "confessional and clever lyricism", "jazz-infused", as well as "sensitive and eloquent".^{[7][17][16][15]} He cites American hip-hop and grime music as musical influences.^[42][43] He also regards American poet Langston Hughes and British writer Benjamin Zephaniah as inspirations.^[43][44]

Carner has described himself as feeling “like an outsider, in a nice way,” while also recognising his place in the UK rap lineage, citing admiration from both grime MCs such as Kano and Ghetts and UK hip-hop figures including Rodney P, Jehst, and Klashnekoff. He explained that his aim was “to be a link in the chain, to take it from where it was before and allow another generation to love it as much as me.”^[15]

As of January 2017, Carner lived in Croydon, South London with his mother and brother.^[9] He has one son (born late 2020) and one daughter (born 2024).^[45] He also runs a cooking school for children with ADHD called Chilli Con Carner.^[46][47] He has titled songs after chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Antonio Carluccio.^[14] Carner has nut and sesame allergies.^[11]

In 2018, he appeared in a film for a project by the charity organisation Campaign Against Living Miserably (CALM), which aims to prevent male suicide.^[48] The following year, he curated an art exhibition and donated its proceeds to CALM.^[1]

Carner is a supporter of Liverpool F.C.^[49] As a tribute to his stepfather, who idolised Eric Cantona and was a passionate Manchester United F.C. supporter, Carner released a song titled "Cantona".^[8] He also named his 2016 tour after Cantona, and has worn his stepfather's Cantona shirt during concerts.^[7][50] Carner used samples of songs written and performed by his stepfather alongside Misure La VerT for Yesterday's Gone's hidden title track, which concludes the album.^[51]