Franz Ferdinand

Biography

Franz Ferdinand is a British rock band from Glasgow, Scotland. They took their name after watching a horse race in which one of the competitors bore the name of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria (Franz Ferdinand in German). This name inspired them because it implied a notion of sudden change (in an already highly tense political context, the assassination of Franz Ferdinand had been the trigger for World War I). Their debut album released in 2004 reached third position in UK album sales and won the Mercury Music Prize, propelling them onto the international stage, notably thanks to the single Take Me Out. In 2005, they released a second album, You Could Have It So Much Better, which contains among other tracks The Fallen, Do You Want to and Walk Away. Their third album, Tonight: Franz Ferdinand, was released on January 26, 2009.