Drummer Alex Reeves replaced Richard Jupp in 2016 as a touring and session musician at first, before becoming a full member in 2024.

[1][2] The band have released ten studio albums: Asleep in the Back (2001), Cast of Thousands (2003), Leaders of the Free World (2005), The Seldom Seen Kid (2008), Build a Rocket Boys!

[failed verification][9] Potter asked Garvey to sing in a band he was in with drummer Richard Jupp and bassist Pete Turner.

The title of the album is a reference to their performance at the 2002 Glastonbury Festival, where they recorded the audience singing, "We still believe in love, so fuck you".

[18] In 2004 Elbow toured Cuba, playing songs from Asleep in the Back and Cast of Thousands at venues in and around Havana.

[20] In 2006, the band moved to Fiction Records and completed their fourth studio album The Seldom Seen Kid in late 2007, which was produced and mixed by Craig Potter.

Elbow and Bournemouth-based band Air Traffic embarked on an extensive North American tour in May 2008, which was very well received by the media including Blender and Spin magazine.

Elbow performed at Delamere Forest in Cheshire on 14 June 2008 as part of the Forestry Commission's 2008 music tours, supported by I Am Kloot.

They performed with The Hallé Orchestra and Youth Choir at the Bridgewater Hall as part of the Manchester International Festival on 8 and 9 July 2009.

In November 2009, Britain's long-running arts series The South Bank Show aired a 60-minute documentary about Elbow on ITV.

Combining live footage of Elbow's September 2009 live performance at Manchester Evening News Arena with an interview between Guy Garvey and presenter Melvyn Bragg, the first half of the documentary focused on Elbow's early career and attempts to get a record deal.

[35] On Saturday 25 June 2011, Elbow played the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury 2011, in a performance which music journalist Stuart Maconie described as "career-defining".

[37] The six-minute anthem entitled "First Steps" was recorded with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra and the NovaVox gospel choir.

[39] Elbow told Festival Republic that they would only headline the Saturday of Latitude 2012 so they could celebrate the French Revolution by closing their set with a large fireworks display in honour of Bastille Day.

Described by Garvey as "a real late night vibe",[42] it features B-sides and "hard to find non-album tracks".

In June 2011, Garvey confirmed to the Daily Mirror that the band had started working on new material for the follow-up to Build a Rocket Boys!, saying, "Rich [drummer Richard Jupp] went into the studio and recorded several different drum patterns for me.

The group spent two weeks working on the early stages of the album at Peter Gabriel's Real World Studios near Bath.

To go and live and breathe your record without the distractions of the rest of life, you make creative decisions you would not have made at home.

Announced in June to the NME, Garvey stated "Elbow are involved in various solo projects and collaborative endeavours for the next few months and we just felt we really wanted to get 'something' away to tide fans over until the next album.

"[46] In October 2015, Guy Garvey released his first solo album Courting the Squall, preceded by a short UK tour.

[48][non-primary source needed] It was announced on 6 March 2016, that drummer Richard Jupp would be leaving the group and their forthcoming album would go ahead without him.

They later released dates and a pre-order link through their website, with the initial cover art being a white background with black text reading "Elbow".

It was revealed the title was Little Fictions, and that it would be released on CD, on vinyl, for digital download, and as a limited edition boxset, all available through their webstore.

The lead single, "Magnificent (She Says)", debuted on Jo Whiley's BBC Radio 2 show and was later added to the Elbow YouTube page.

The band kicked off their US Tour in support of the album on 1 November with a sold-out show at The Paradise Rock Club in Boston, Massachusetts.

[62] Touring and session drummer Alex Reeves contributed to the writing of the album, which led to him becoming a full member of the band.

[65] Elbow recorded an acoustic cover of Destiny's Child's "Independent Women" for a BBC Radio 1 session which was turned into a popular web animation by Joel Veitch, featuring a band of flat-capped northern kittens "performing" the song.

[66] In January 2001, Elbow donated their unreleased original version of "Scattered Black and Whites" to Manchester Aid to Kosovo's compilation Cohesion.

Garvey explained: "When the band first met each other aged 17, Mark and Craig's father Gareth would lend us his Volvo to get our gear around.

Elbow covered the song "Golden Slumbers" by The Beatles for the 2017 John Lewis Christmas commercial.