Keane are an English rock band from Battle, East Sussex, formed in 1995. The group currently comprises Tim Rice-Oxley (piano, synthesisers, backing vocals), Richard Hughes (drums, percussion, backing vocals), Jesse Quin (bass guitar, acoustic/electric guitar, backing vocals) and Tom Chaplin (lead vocals, acoustic/electric guitar). Their original line-up included founder and guitarist Dominic Scott, who left in 2001.
Keane immediately achieved mainstream, international success with the release of their debut album,
Hopes and Fears, in 2004. The album won several awards, including the Brit Award for Best British Album, and was the second best-selling British album of the year.
In May 2008, both
Hopes and Fears (number 13) and
Under the Iron Sea (number 8) were voted by readers of
Q magazine as among the best British albums ever, with Keane, The Beatles, Oasis and Radiohead the only artists having two albums in the top 20. The inclusion of a distorted piano effect in 2006 and various synthesisers were a common feature in their music that back then combined the piano rock sound used during their first album and the more electronic sound which developed on the second and third albums. Since the start of their career, the band have sold over 10 million albums worldwide.