Ash are a Northern Irish rock band formed in Downpatrick, County Down in 1992 by vocalist and guitarist Tim Wheeler, bassist Mark Hamilton and drummer Rick McMurray.

[8] After the success of their full debut the band recruited Charlotte Hatherley as a guitarist and vocalist, releasing their second record Nu-Clear Sounds in 1998.

The band have had one silver, two gold and two platinum-selling (and chart-topping) records in the United Kingdom, as well as 18 songs in the top 40 of the UK Singles Chart.

In 1993 the band recorded the Garage Girl demo tape, which featured "Jack Names the Planets" and "Intense Thing", taken from Shed, and new tracks, including "Petrol".

Taverner put up the money to press 1,000 7″ copies of "Jack Names the Planets" on his own LaLaLand record label.

Airplay by Steve Lamacq followed on BBC Radio 1 and the debut single was followed by "Petrol" and "Uncle Pat", on their new label Infectious Records.

Ash marked the end of their breakthrough year by releasing a cover of the Temptations' "Get Ready", as a limited edition red vinyl 7" single on Fantastic Plastic.

The first recording to be released with Hatherley was the single "A Life Less Ordinary", which featured on the soundtrack to the Ewan McGregor / Cameron Diaz film of the same name.

In September 1998, Ash released "Jesus Says" followed in October by the band's second album proper, Nu-Clear Sounds, and in November by "Wildsurf".

The members retreated to Wheeler's parents' house, to play and write songs in the same garage where the band began.

The screenplay, written by Jed Shepherd and directed by Alexander Marks, included star roles by Chris Martin (Sherbet Bones) and Jonny Buckland (Agent Ford) of Coldplay as a pair of FBI agents hired to track down a supernatural serial killer.

Also in 2005, Tim Wheeler received a companionship (an honorary degree) from LIPA (Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts).

[18] In 2006 Ash started working in a New York recording studio on what would become their first album after reverting to their original line-up, Twilight of the Innocents.

[20] The original three-piece line-up played two-sold out nights at London's Roundhouse in September 2008, performing 1977 in its entirety.

[25] The same year Ash collaborated with We Are Scientists to release a cover of the song "Washington Parks" by British songwriter Robert Manning,[26] raising money and awareness for Multiple Sclerosis and The MS Society.

They played at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas in 2013, along with seven other US cities,[29] and supported the Smashing Pumpkins at Wembley Arena.

[32][33] Islands was released on 18 May 2018, preceded by the single "Buzzkill", with vocals from Damien O'Neill and Mickey Bradley from the Undertones.