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Kele Okereke



Kelechukwu Rowland Okereke is the vocalist and rhythm guitarist for English indie rock band Bloc Party.

Okereke was born in Liverpool to Igbo parents. His mother was a midwife, and his father a molecular biologist. He grew up in London with his one sister. As a child, he went to school at Ilford County High School, but switched to Trinity Catholic High School, Woodford Green for sixth form at age 16. He lived in Bethnal Green, where in 1998 he became friends with his new schoolmate at Trinity, Russell Lissack, who would become his band's guitarist. A year later, while studying at King's College London, Okereke met Lissack again at Reading Festival, where the band was officially formed under the title of The Angel Range. In 2001, Okereke moved out of his parents' home. He went on to meet Gordon Moakes and Matt Tong who became the band's permanent bass guitarist and drummer, respectively. In 2003, the band changed its name to Bloc Party after briefly being called Union.

In 2005, Bloc Party released their first studio album, titled Silent Alarm. The album reached number three in the UK charts, and propelled the band to fame.

The band released their second album, called A Weekend in the City on 5 February 2007 in the UK and 6 February in the US.

On August 21, 2008 Bloc Party released their third studio album "Intimacy", this album is far more introverted than any of Bloc Party's previous efforts. The album deals with a huge breakup that Okereke dealt with at the end of 2007, some of the songs like "Biko" and "Signs" deal with the loss of people that were close to Okereke.
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Anonymous said…
This is a fantastic blog. Its about time someone showcased the qualities of Ndi-Igbo. God bless you
8 February 2009 at 10:35
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