Joy Division and New Order were postpunk pioneers and electronic dance-floor innovators, inspiring thousands of bands and becoming a beacon for millions of listeners. Spearheading the late 1970s Manchester music scene, their story is a remarkable tale of revolution, metamorphosis, and influence. Their dark and droning transmissions “Love Will Tear Us Apart” and “Blue Monday” were foundational to both dance music and alternative rock, and they still resonate deeply with outsiders and adventurous souls. They were innovative musicians who created something revolutionary and massively influential – not once, but twice.   

After attending a now-legendary Sex Pistols show at Manchester’s Free Trade Hall in 1976, vocalist Ian Curtis, bassist Peter Hook, drummer Stephen Morris, and guitarist Bernard Sumner started Joy Division. The band melded the raw sounds of punk with literary themes of love, loss, pleasure, and pain. Journalist Jon Savage once described Curtis’ lyrics as “the underlying reality of a society in turmoil.” Curtis’ deep vocals on these lines, braced by cutting guitars mixed with melodic bass lines and echoing drum sounds, transformed the emotional into the physical. Days before they were to begin their 1980 U.S. tour, Curtis tragically took his own life, turning the dark themes of their music into stark reality.  

Remarkably, the remaining band members persevered, renaming themselves New Order and adding keyboardist Gillian Gilbert. Newly inspired by Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, the group fully adopted the use of synthesizers and pulsing dance floor beats, creating a new synth-pop sound with “Blue Monday,” which remains the best-selling 12-inch single of all time. The band’s identity extended to all aspects of its presentation, including artwork (Peter Saville), music videos (Jonathan Demme, Robert Frank), unique album design (Factory Records), and partial ownership of the Haçienda nightclub in Manchester. During the 1980s, New Order became a mainstream cultural phenomenon for teenagers, appearing on soundtracks for films (Pretty in Pink) and on MTV (“True Faith”). 

New Order have continued to evolve musically into the twenty-first century while embracing their own history and remaining uniquely themselves. The band has been covered, remixed, and recognized as an influence by artists such as U2, the Cure, Björk, Nine Inch Nails, the Killers, and Chvrches. They created the goth-rock lifestyle and then transcended the gloom to become worldwide pioneers of electronic dance music. 

Nominees: Ian Curtis, Gillian Gilbert, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris, Bernard Sumner