Draft:Thom Rylance

Thomas Jack Rylance (born 11 August 1989) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, producer and lyricist, best known as the founder and frontman of Manchester-based indie band The Lottery Winners, which was formed in 2008. Rylance hails from Leigh, Greater Manchester.

He is also known as a presenter and more recently a DJ, having DJ'd at many events including Club NME for NME.

Background
Thomas Jack Rylance was born on 11 August 1989 in Hope Hospital, Salford to mother and father Colin and Julie Rylance. Rylance. He has two brothers, Sam and Joe. Thom spent his childhood with undiagnosed ADHD and was expelled from Garrett Hall Primary School before joining Tyldesley Primary School, and then was later expelled from Fred Longworth High School, before joining Bedford High School, where he met Rob Lally, who he later formed The Lottery Winners with. He studied Music at Wigan and Leigh College, but did not complete the course.

Thom credits Morrissey as the reason he writes songs, after discovering The Smiths as a teenager, and described supporting Morrissey in 2023 as a 'full-circle moment'.

Career
All the music and lyrics for The Lottery Winners songs are written by Rylance, and document his life and struggles with mental health. The song 'Letter to Myself', a song about the challenges he faced at school has now been studied, and even performed by students in many schools across the UK.

With The Lottery Winners, he has released three studio albums. All of them went Top 40 in the UK Albums Chart; with their 2023 album Anxiety Replacement Therapy reaching number 1 in the UK Official Album Charts.

Rylance also writes songs with other artists and has worked with Boy George, Frank Turner, Shaun Ryder, Melanie C, Louise Wener and Miles Hunt. Thom also states that ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr gave him advice when he was beginning his career. He has has production credits with Canadian rock band Nickelback.

Thom is known for his large collection of guitars and has most commonly used a Fender Custom Shop Jazzmaster in Shell Pink which was purchased by good friend, manager and producer Tristan Ivemy.

Original Studio Albums

 * The Lottery Winners (13 March 2020) – No. 23 UK
 * Something to Leave the House For (3 December 2021) – No. 11 UK
 * Anxiety Replacement Therapy (28 April 2023) – No. 1 UK

Cover Albums

 * Sounds of Isolation (21 August 2020) – No. 41 UK

Singles

 * "Elizabeth" (April 2013)
 * "I Know" (October 2015)
 * "Young Love" (April 2016)
 * "That's Not Entertainment" (November 2018)
 * "Hawaii" (September 2019)
 * "Little Things" (November 2019)
 * "21" (January 2020)
 * "Headlock" (February 2020)
 * "The Meaning of Life" (March 2020)
 * "Love Will Keep Us Together" (April 2020)
 * "An Open Letter to Creatives" (November 2020)
 * "Start Again" (feat. Frank Turner) (January 2021)
 * "Rockstar" (with Nickelback) (February 2021)
 * "Bad Things" (feat. Sleeper) (February 2021)
 * “Times Are Changing” (May 2021)
 * “Favourite Flavour” (June 2021)
 * “Sunshine” (July 2021)
 * “Dance With The Devil” (feat KT Tunstall) (September 2021)
 * “Much Better” (October 2021)
 * “Love Yourself” (October 2022)
 * “Worry” (January 2023)
 * “Money” (feat. Shaun Ryder) (February 2023)
 * "Let Me Down" (feat. Boy George) (March 2023)
 * “Burning House” (April 2023)
 * “Letter To Myself” (feat. Frank Turner) (April 2023)