Editing Island Records (section)

====Island's sixth decade: the artists====
[[PJ Harvey]]'s eighth studio album, 2011's ''[[Let England Shake]]'', was one of the key records of Island's sixth decade. Made in a cliff-top church in [[Dorset]], it won the 2011 [[Mercury Music Prize]], making Harvey the only artist to land the prestigious award twice (she had prevailed ten years previously with ''[[Stories From The City, Stories From The Sea]]''). [[Mumford & Sons]], who grew out of a series of jam sessions in London in 2007, signed a licensing deal with Island in 2009. Heralded as standard bearers for a vibrant new wave of folkish, countrified rock, their debut album, ''[[Sigh No More (Mumford & Sons album)|Sigh No More]]'', sold two million, reaching number two in Britain and America. It also won best British album at the [[BRIT Awards]] in February 2011. The follow-up, ''[[Babel (Mumford & Sons album)|Babel]]'', did even better in 2012, becoming the UK's fastest-selling album of that year, going to number one in Britain and the US and winning album of the year at the 2013 [[Grammy Awards]]. Island also secured the signing of English [[indie rock]] band [[Florence and the Machine]] whose debut studio album ''[[Lungs (album)|Lungs]]'' (2009) sold four million copies, and spent over 12 months on the [[UK Albums Chart]] before being crowned British Album Of The Year at the 2010 BRIT Awards ceremony. ''Lungs'' was followed by the studio albums ''[[Ceremonials]]'' (2011), and ''[[How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful]]'' (2015).

[[Keane (band)|Keane]] were another of the big successes of Island's sixth decade. Having topped the charts with their five million-selling debut album ''[[Hopes and Fears]]'' in 2004, they went on to secure five consecutive number-one albums in the UK (a feat bettered only by [[The Beatles]]), with subsequent releases ''[[Under the Iron Sea]]'' (2006), ''[[Perfect Symmetry (Keane album)|Perfect Symmetry]]'' (2008), ''[[Night Train (EP)|Night Train]]'' (2010) and ''[[Strangeland (album)|Strangeland]]'' (2012) all topping the charts. [[Paul Weller]]'s relationship with Island dates back to his fourth solo album, 1997's ''[[Heavy Soul (Paul Weller album)|Heavy Soul]]'', and its 2000 follow-up [[Heliocentric (Paul Weller album)|Heliocentric]]. He returned to the label in 2008 and began an outstanding trilogy of releases that contained some of his strongest solo work ''[[22 Dreams]]'' (2008), the [[Mercury Music Prize]]-nominated ''[[Wake Up The Nation]]'' (2010) and ''[[Sonik Kicks]]'' (2012).

North London quartet [[Bombay Bicycle Club]] also released four albums on Island, with each one signalling a change of direction: the indie-rock of 2009's ''[[Bombay Bicycle Club#I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose (2008–09)|I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose]]'' paved the way for 2010's folkier ''[[Flaws (album)|Flaws]]'', the modern rock of 2011's ''[[Bombay Bicycle Club#A Different Kind of Fix (2011–12)|A Different Kind Of Fix]]'' and the broad-based invention of 2014's ''[[So Long, See You Tomorrow (album)|So Long, See You Tomorrow]]''. Having built a loyal live following, [[Catfish and the Bottlemen|Catfish & The Bottlemen]] signed to Island in 2014. After reaching platinum sales status in the UK with their Top Ten debut album, ''[[The Balcony (album)|The Balcony]]'', the Welsh rock band won the BBC Introducing Award at the first [[BBC Music Awards]] in 2014 and were crowned British Breakthrough Act at the [[BRIT Awards]] in 2016 (an award voted for by [[BBC Radio 1|Radio 1]] listeners). Their second album, 2016's ''[[The Ride (Catfish and the Bottlemen album)|The Ride]]'', was a UK number one.

Island was also responsible for securing major British breakthroughs for two of the 21st century's biggest international superstars in [[Drake (musician)|Drake]] and [[The Weeknd]]. The success of Toronto hip-hop artist Drake came after the label had worked patiently to build his profile over a number of years, culminating in the success of his fourth album ''[[Views (album)|Views]]'' and its attendant singles in 2016. "[[One Dance]]", Drake's first number one single in the UK, had 1.95&nbsp;million sales<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/the-official-top-40-biggest-songs-of-2016__17517/ |title=The Official Top 40 Biggest Songs of 2016 |date=2016-12-30 |publisher=The Official UK Charts Company |access-date=2017-03-19}}</ref> to become Britain's biggest-selling single of 2016. The single's 15-week run at number one equalled the mark for the second longest in UK chart history. With the Island-signed [[Mike Posner]] having held the number one spot with "[[I Took a Pill in Ibiza]]" for four consecutive weeks before being replaced by "One Dance", Island held the top spot in the UK singles chart for 19 consecutive weeks between March and August 2016. To crown a record-breaking year, Drake was named the world's best-selling recording artist of 2016 by international music industry organisation [[IFPI]] in February 2017.

Canadian singer and songwriter [[The Weeknd]] also cemented his position as one of the world's leading recording artists, with the 2016 success of his third album ''[[Starboy (album)|Starboy]]''. Its success was the culmination of a strategy that had seen Island build his UK profile over a four-year period that dated from his 2013 studio album ''[[Kiss Land]]''. Island's commitment to further nurturing the careers of global superstars was reiterated in June 2016 with the signing of [[Sean Paul]]. The Jamaican singer, rapper and songwriter released "[[No Lie (Sean Paul song)|No Lie]]" (featuring the Youngest English-Albanian [[Dua Lipa]]), his first single for Island, in November 2016.

Signed to Island via a licensing deal with independent label PMR, [[Disclosure (band)|Disclosure]] were formed by two brothers from [[Reigate]] in [[Surrey]], Guy and Howard Lawrence. The duo discovered the joys of nineties [[House music|house]], [[techno]] and [[two-step garage]] while studying music production at college, and went on to enjoy success with their two Island albums ''[[Settle (album)|Settle]]'' (2013) and ''[[Caracal (album)|Caracal]]'' (2015), making extensive use of an array of guest vocalists including [[Sam Smith (singer)|Sam Smith]], [[Jamie Woon]], [[Eliza Doolittle]], [[Lorde]] and [[Gregory Porter]]. One of the acts who guested on ''Settle'' was [[AlunaGeorge]], a boy-girl duo from London (singer Aluna Francis and musician and producer George Reid), who released their debut album, ''Body Music'', on Island in 2013. Like Disclosure, [[Jessie Ware]] signed to Island through a link with independent label [[PMR Records|PMR]]. A soulful singer-songwriter from Brixton, Ware was nominated for the 2012 [[Mercury Music Prize]] with her smooth debut album, [[Devotion (Jessie Ware album)|Devotion]], and enjoyed further success with 2014's [[Tough Love (Jessie Ware album)|Tough Love]]. Another Island act to enjoy a significant breakthrough was Yorkshire singer [[John Newman (singer)|John Newman]], who topped the UK charts with his first solo single, "[[Love Me Again (John Newman song)|Love Me Again]]", and his debut album [[Tribute (John Newman album)|Tribute]].

In May 2018, incumbent president [[David Massey (music executive)|David Massey]] left Island to join [[Sony Music Entertainment]]'s relaunch of [[Arista Records]]. [[Darcus Beese]], [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] took on the role of president upon Massey's departure. To make the transition, Beese relocated from the United Kingdom to Island's offices at [[Universal Music Group]]'s New York City building.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.universalmusic.com/darcus-beese-named-president-island-records/|title=DARCUS BEESE NAMED PRESIDENT OF ISLAND RECORDS|date=2018-05-24|website=UMG|language=en-US|access-date=2019-06-06}}</ref>

In June 2021, Imran Majid and Justin Eshak were named co-CEOs of Island Records. They assumed the position on January 1, 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Aswad |first=Jem |date=2021-06-17 |title=Island Records Names Imran Majid and Justin Eshak Co-CEOs |url=https://variety.com/2021/music/news/island-records-names-imran-majid-justin-eshak-ceo-1234999096/ |access-date=2024-12-22 |website=Variety |language=en-US}}</ref>