30 Little Known Facts You Probably Didn’t Know About The Band Mumford & Sons

Mumford & Sons, a British band, consisting of Marcus Mumford, Ben Lovett, Winston Marshall and Ted Dwane, have so far released three studio albums, "Sigh No More," "Babel," and "Wilder Mind." Their second album "Babel," become the fastest-selling rock album of the decade. Here are 30 interesting facts about the band:

1. Their debut single "Little Lion Man," from their debut album "Sigh No More," was named by Dave Berry of XFM as the "Record of the Week," but later claimed it to be his "Favorite Track of the Year." BBC Radio 1 DJ Zane Lowe made the single his "Reaction Record," on July 27, 2009, and later named it as the "Hottest Record in the World," the following evening.
2. Mumford & Sons held the title for "Most Streams From an Album in a Single Week," on Spotify for a while in the year 2012, before Daft Punk broke their record. The band's second album "Babel" was streamed eight million times in October.
3. Before their first album "Sigh No More," they were almost turned away from recording by a producer, as the band did not own any instruments. It was at that time, that they realized they had to get their instruments.
4. A musical documentary named “Big Easy Express,” was made by Emmett Malloy, about their 2011 Railroad Revival Tour. The documentary was premiered in March 2012 at the South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival (SXSW Film) in Austin, Texas. The film won the Headliner Audience Award at SXSW Film and also bagged the "Best Long Form Video" award at the 2013 Grammy Awards.
5. Before marrying his childhood friend Mulligan, Mumford dated Laura Marling and even played drums for her on her debut "Alas, I Cannot Swim."
6. The band's debut single "Little Lion Man" was ranked at #43 in the NME's list of "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years." The single was also declared as the "Song of the Year," by the Australian radio station Triple J, in their Hot 100 music poll.
7. It is already well known that the band's lyrics are full of references to Christianity. What's new is that the lyrics are sometimes even inspired by literature. The song “Sigh No More” actually featured lines from William Shakespeare’s "Much Ado about Nothing" and “Roll Away Your Stone” is a reference to "MacBeth."
8. Mumford & Sons won the ARIA Music Award for Most Popular International Artist in the year 2010, as well as the Brit Award in 2011 for Best British Album.
9. The band found their own record label and live promotions company named Gentlemen of the Road. It was through the label that the band released all three of their albums - "Sigh No More," "Babel," and "Wilder Mind," as well as Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros’ 2013 self-titled album.
10. Mumford & Sons' live performance with Bob Dylan and The Avett Brothers at the 2011 Grammy ceremony, led them to their much needed surge in popularity.
11. Mumford, at one point of time, wanted to motivate himself to read more and even owned a book club. He believed that this would lead to stronger lyrical skills.
12. The group have been one of the guests at the White House in 2012, where they played in front of David Cameron and Barack Obama.
13. Their first album "Sigh No More" released on October 2, 2009 in the United Kingdom, peaked at a modest number 11 in the UK charts. However, this did not deter the band as they celebrated with a barn dance on the outskirts of London.
14. In the year 2011, the band along with Old Crow Medicine Show and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, went on their first and last ever Railroad Revival Tour, in which they toured from California to Louisiana in 50s and 60s-style railroad cars.
15. The band members, apart from being in the group, have also tried their hand at production of music. Lovett is most notably known to have produced the Ellie Goulding’s chart-topping album "Lights," while Mumford has produced the King Charled album as well as the "Hold Fast" album from Christian Letts.
16. Through their production company Gentlemen of the Road, Mumford & Sons organizes a touring festival, dubbed as Stopover Festival. The festival held every year has each stop featuring two days of music and various other activities in areas usually overlooked by most tours.
17. The name – Mumford & Sons, originates from the obvious fact that it was Marcus Mumford the most visible member of the band, and he was also the one who organized the band and their performances. Lovett claimed that the name was an effort to invoke the sense of an "antiquated family business name".
18. The band is known to take instruments from backstage after a show, and play for a small crowd of fans, friends and family, after the venue has cleared out.
19. During the production of their second album "Babel," Mumford & Sons played a 10 song writing game. The most popular "Reminder" was written in these sessions. It was the same time that Dwane realized he has a knack for writing murder ballads.
20. In the year 2006, Lovett co-founded the London based label Communion, which is famous for its success with releases by Ben Howard, Gotye, Foy Vance, and Daughter.
21. Mumford, though raised in England, was actually born in Southern California, when his parents were visiting missionaries for The Vineyard, an evangelical Christian movement with a strong focus on worship music.
22. "Little Lion Man," the band's debut single from the first album "Sigh No More," is actually based on the frontman Mumford's very personal story. According to him, it is was a situation in his life that neither he is proud of or very happy with.
23. Mumford & Sons, along with Marling, went to work with the nine member Dharohar Project in India, which resulted in a collaborative EP featuring four songs. Among the four songs are the re-workings of Marling’s “Devil’s Spoke,” and the band’s “The Darkness.”
24. The members Mumford, Marshall and Dwane used to back-up British folk artist Laura Marling before they started their band in 2007. Since the formation of Mumford & Sons, the band has worked with Marling many times since then, and even acted as contributing musicians on her 2010 album "I Speak Because I Can."
25. The band has often been berated for being "posh." Once even it was mentioned as "They just look like posh kids with banjos to me," by Jake Bugg, who knocked "Babel," the band's second album, off it's #1 spot. Liam Gallagher went on to say that Mumford & Sons "look like fucking Amish people."
26. The band's frontman Mumford once got to help in finishing lost Bob Dylan Demos. He was asked to be a part of the band, put together by T-Bone Burnett to add music to some “newly discovered” Bob Dylan lyrics. He has provided backing vocals, mandolin, acoustic and electric guitar and drums in the album titled "Lost on the River: The New Basement Tapes."
27. Mumford & Sons have been ranked at #8 in the Forbes list of "Celebrity 100 Newcomers of 2016," and at #67 in the list of "Celebrity 100: The World's Highest Paid Entertainers," with an earning of $40 million.
28. Mumford dated actress Carey Mulligan for a few months before marrying her. However, he and Mulligan were childhood pen pals who lost touch and reconnected as adults. The duo have a daughter together.
29. The member Marshal who plays electric guitar and banjo with the band is also into Techno. He has reportedly created a solo project called Tech No Notice, but is yet to produced anything for public consumption.
30. Although Mumford & Sons, did not have the money to have their own instruments, they decided to self-finance their debut album "Sigh No More." Once in an interview, they claimed that they decided to self-finance the album in an effort to avoid the artistic and technical compromises that sometimes befall studio-financed projects.
31. Marcus Mumford Net Worth: $10 Million