[1] Since 2007 he has been writing for other artists, including Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Paloma Faith, and has performed with Marianne Faithfull and the Libertines.

[3][4] Harcourt was born Edward Henry Richard Harcourt-Smith on 14 August 1977, in Wimbledon, London, England.

[1] The youngest of three, Harcourt is the son of Maj. Charles Harcourt-Smith of the Life Guards and also a former diplomat,[2][5] and his wife Sabrina, an art historian.

In the same year he performed at the annual Meltdown Festival in London, supporting the Brian Jonestown Massacre and joining the curator Patti Smith for a rendition of "Pissing in a River".

The Beautiful Lie was co-produced with Jari Haapalainen, and features contributions from The Magic Numbers, who sing backing vocals on "Revolution in the Heart"; Graham Coxon, who plays guitar on first single "Visit from the Dead Dog"; and Ed's wife Gita, who plays violin throughout and sings duet vocals on the track "Braille".

[6] Harcourt recorded several tracks with the French jazz trumpeter Erik Truffaz for the album Arkhangelsk, released in early 2007.

[6] In 2009, Harcourt signed with Dovecote Records in the United States to release The Beautiful Lie stateside, as well as his new EP Russian Roulette which appeared in May of that year.

[21] In early 2010, he wrote a song called "Isabel" for the SOS Children's Villages Emergency Relief Fund in Haiti.

[23] In February 2013, Harcourt released the album Back into The Woods through CCCLX, the new label set-up by his manager Sean Adams.

[24] It was recorded during a one-day session helmed by Pete Hutchings at the Abbey Road Studios and featured his wife Gita on violin and Arnulf Lindner (cello).

[29] It was inspired by the BBC documentary Our World: Saving Gaza's grand piano broadcast that featured the work of the charity.

[34] Harcourt opened for The Gutter Twins on their European tour in 2008, as well as joining the group on stage to play guitar on some songs, most notably on their appearance on Later... with Jools Holland, performing the single "Idle Hands.".

[35] In December 2013 Harcourt made a guest appearance with Laura Jansen at Bush Hall, London to sing "A Call to Arms".

In the summer of 2017, while on tour supporting The Afghan Whigs, Harcourt played rhythm guitar on stage with the band at their concert at NorthSide Festival (Denmark) as well as performing an exclusive, solo mini-concert, at a nearby allotment garden.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album live at the Philharmonie de Paris for Arte TV show with a little help from Carl Barât and Pete Doherty (The Libertines), Barrie Cadogan (Primal Scream), Danny Goffey and Gaz Coombes (Supergrass), Steve Mason and others.

[2] In 2008, he co-wrote the title track for the Paloma Faith album Do You Want The Truth Or Something Beautiful?, which reached #64 in the UK singles chart.

[45] The song "Watching The Sun Come Up" also plays in the end credits of the video game Alan Wake's American Nightmare.