Career
Royston Langdon began his musical career as a part of the band ‘Spacehog.’ While all of the band members are originally from Leeds, West Yorkshire, the formation of ‘Spacehog’ occurred in New York City when Langdon’s brother, Anthony, chanced upon Jonny Cragg at a café. Anthony brought in Royston and Cragg convinced his friend Richard Steel to join. In the same year, they landed a contract with Sire Records.
The band’s debut album, ‘Resident Alien’, which was released on October 24, 1995, sold over 500,000 copies in the US and more than a million in Canada, receiving Gold and Platinum certifications respectively. The single ‘In the Meantime’ peaked on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the US and maintained its position for four consecutive weeks.
They released their first EP ‘Hamsters of Rock’ in 1996. ‘The Chinese Album’, their second studio album was put out on March 10, 1998. Produced by Bryce Goggin and Spacehog themselves, its music had a more artistic quality to it, showing a clear influence of Pink Floyd. Though the album was not commercially as successful as ‘Resident Alien,’ Spacehog managed to maintain their popularity by opening for Pearl Jam and Supergrass.
Langdon and his group were dropped by Sire Records sometime following the release of their second album and as a result, they signed with Artemis Records. On April 10, 2001, their album, ‘The Hogyssey’, was released. Despite its limited success, it has come to be viewed as a milestone in the evolution of glam rock as a genre. Spacehog then went on a 2001 North American tour named The Tour of Brotherly Love with The Black Crowes and Oasis. They also released their second EP, ‘4 Future Tracks’ before their split in 2002.
In 2004, Langdon and one of the former members of Blind Melon came together to create the band ‘The Quick’. They later changed the group’s name to The Tender Trio after encountering several issues for using the previous name during their tours.
After The Tender Trio officially broke up in March 2006, Langdon, his two brothers Anthony and Christian, and Cragg formed Arckid, in which Langdon continued to be the lead singer and bassist. Their music was deeply influenced by David Bowie, Queen and T. Rex as they stayed true to their glam rock and alternative rock roots. Between 2006 and 2009, they released popular singles such as ‘Disguise My Youth’, ‘Girls Like You Like Me’, and ‘Only Dreaming’.
In July 2008, Cragg announced via Arckid MySpace page that Spacehog was reuniting to record a new album. Earlier in that month, they had performed together at the Viper Room and at Troubadour, two prominent nightclubs in Los Angeles, California. They officially reunited a year later at Spaceland in Los Angeles.
After working on it for five years, they released ‘As It Is on Earth’ through Redeye label on April 16, 2013.
Personal Life
Royston Langdon was born on May 1, 1972, in Leeds, UK. As a child he sang in the Leeds Parish Church choir along with Anthony.
He started dating actress Liv Tyler in 1998, becoming engaged in February 2001. The couple got married in Barbados on March 25, 2003. Their son, Milo William Langdon, was born on December 14, 2004. On May 8, 2008, Langdon and Tyler announced through their respective representatives that they were separating. They divorced sometime in 2009.
