Frederick John Philip Gibson (born 19 July 1993), known professionally as Fred Again (stylised as Fred again..) or simply Fred, is a British record producer, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and DJ who has worked with a range of artists, including Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, and Clean Bandit. At the 66th Annual Grammy Awards, he was nominated for Best New Artist, won Best Dance/Electronic Album for his third album Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) (2022), and won Best Dance/Electronic Recording for his 2023 single "Rumble" (with Skrillex and Flowdan).
Prior to his solo career, Gibson achieved commercial success as a songwriter and producer, holding credits on 30% of all UK number-one singles in 2019 and becoming the youngest artist to win Producer of the Year at the 2020 Brit Awards. He gained wider recognition for his Actual Life series, which utilizes real-world audio samples and voice memos in a "collaborative diary" format. His 2022 album Actual Life 3 was nominated for a Mercury Music Prize in 2023 and won the Grammy Award for Best Dance/Electronic Album in 2024.
In May 2023, Gibson released Secret Life, a collaborative ambient album with Brian Eno. He has headlined major international festivals including Coachella in 2023 and Reading and Leeds Festivals, and performed back-to-back DJ sets with former Daft Punk member Thomas Bangalter.
Contents
Early life and education
Gibson was born on 19 July 1993 in Balham, London. He is the second son of barrister Charles Anthony Warneford Gibson (born 1960) and Mary Ann Frances Morgan. Gibson's father is descended from Huntingdonshire gentry and his mother's ancestry includes the Earls of Dundonald, the Earls of Wemyss and March, the Marquess of Crewe, the Dukes of Somerset, and other peerage and baronetage families. His mother is the eldest daughter of diplomat John Morgan and Fionn O'Neill, who was the only daughter of the marriage of British socialite Ann Charteris and Anglo-Irish aristocrat and financier Shane, 3rd Baron O'Neill. His maternal great-grandmother Ann (a noted society hostess and the granddaughter of the 11th Earl of Wemyss) remarried, firstly to the press magnate Esmond Harmsworth, 2nd Viscount Rothermere, and secondly to the writer Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond.
From 2006 to 2011, Gibson attended Marlborough College, a private boarding school in Wiltshire.
Career
Beginnings and record label deal
Aged 16, Gibson joined an a cappella group at the home of Brian Eno after being invited by a family friend. In 2014, he collaborated as co-producer and songwriter with Eno and Karl Hyde on their two project albums Someday World and High Life (songwriter only). Eno stated: "...when I first worked with Fred, I could see he was brilliant. It's very clear he is a very, very sensitive and good artist... but I didn't really understand a lot of what he was doing. It took me quite a while to think... 'oh my gosh, this is really a new idea about how you can make music.'" Also in 2014, Gibson participated in the Red Bull Music Academy in Tokyo, Japan.
Between 2015 and 2019, Gibson worked primarily as a songwriter and producer for a diverse range of mainstream artists. His early production credits included work on Roots Manuva's album Bleeds (2015) and Charli XCX's 2016 single "After the Afterparty". He went on to contribute production to Lil Yachty's 2017 track "Better" (which featured Stefflon Don), Plan B's Heaven Before All Hell Breaks Loose (2018), and BTS's "Make It Right" (2019). In 2019, he also co-produced the UK number-one single "Own It" by Stormzy, featuring Ed Sheeran and Burna Boy.
In 2018, Gibson began collaborating with singer-songwriter Maisie Peters, receiving co-writing credits on various songs of hers. He continued to write with her until 2021. In June 2018, George Ezra's song "Shotgun", co-written by Gibson, reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, remaining in the top 3 for 12 consecutive weeks from 22 June to 7 September. Later, in the same year, Gibson was also credited with co-writing "Solo" by Clean Bandit featuring Demi Lovato, and gained further success with Rita Ora's song "Let You Love Me". Gibson is credited with writing and/or producing 12 of 15 of Ed Sheeran's 2019 No.6 Collaborations Project, with credited songs featuring for a total of 14 weeks at number one in the charts.
By 2019, Gibson had achieved significant commercial success in the UK charts, contributing to 12 Top 40 singles over the course of the year. Additionally, he held songwriting or production credits on 30% of all the UK number-one singles in 2019.
Gibson won Producer of the Year at the Brit Awards 2020. He is the youngest producer to ever win the title. The win was voted for by a group of industry-wide A&R executives and was then selected by the Music Producers' Guild.
Actual Life and other various projects
In 2019, Gibson began a project titled Actual Life, in which he collects samples from various sources – such as voice memos, clips from social media, and music by other artists – and incorporates them into original tracks. Gibson released the first of these albums, titled Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020), in April 2021, which he described as a "collaborative diary" reflecting his life experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. He released a follow-up, Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021), later that year in November.
In July 2022, Gibson performed a set for Boiler Room in London, the third most-watched set on Boiler Room's YouTube Channel. The same week, he released the single "Turn On the Lights again.." with Swedish House Mafia, which samples Future's 2012 single "Turn On the Lights". In 2022, Gibson's song "Marea (We've Lost Dancing)" was featured in Ruben Östlund's Palme d'Or-winning film Triangle of Sadness.
Gibson's third solo studio album, Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022), was released on 28 October 2022. It was preceded by five singles: "Danielle (Smile on My Face)", "Bleu (Better with Time)", "Kammy (Like I Do)", "Delilah (Pull Me Out of This)" and "Clara (The Night Is Dark)".
Gibson's debut tour, which ran between October 2022 and February 2023 stopped in Europe, America, New Zealand and Australia. Prior to this tour, he had done sporadic pop-up shows and festivals starting in late 2021, such as the above-mentioned Boiler Room and going B2B with Swedish House Mafia.
On 4 January 2023, Gibson and Skrillex released their collaboration "Rumble" featuring Flowdan. Following this, Fred, Skrillex, and Four Tet played three more shows from 5–7 January across different London venues. On 18 February 2023, Gibson played at a sold-out Skrillex show alongside Four Tet at New York City's Madison Square Garden. Having announced the performance in the same week as the show, the trio played a warmup set in Times Square the day before. On 10 April 2023, Gibson appeared on NPR's Tiny Desk Concerts. On 24 April 2023, he, alongside Skrillex and Four Tet, played the final set of Coachella after being listed on the lineup as "TBA", a last-minute addition following the departure of Frank Ocean. On 23 June 2023, Gibson made his first appearance at Glastonbury Festival.
Discography
Studio albums
Actual Life (April 14 – December 17 2020) (2021)
Actual Life 2 (February 2 – October 15 2021) (2021)
Actual Life 3 (January 1 – September 9 2022) (2022)
Ten Days (2024)
Collaborative albums
Secret Life (with Brian Eno) (2023)