He was the lead singer, lyricist and occasional guitarist of the band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980).

Retrospectively viewed as "one of the finest songwriters of his generation," his intensely introspective and dark lyricism has provoked "visceral and raw emotions" among fans.

[2] Curtis had severe epilepsy and depression and died by suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour, shortly before the release of Closer.

John Bush of AllMusic argues that they "became the first band in the post-punk movement emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s".

On one occasion when he was 16,[9] after consuming a large dosage of Largactil he and his friends had stolen, Curtis was discovered unconscious[10] in his bedroom by his father and was taken to hospital to have his stomach pumped.

[11] Curtis had held a keen interest in music since his early teenage years and was influenced by artists such as Jim Morrison and David Bowie.

[19] Nonetheless, Curtis continued to focus on the pursuit of art, literature and music, and would gradually draw lyrical and conceptual inspiration from ever more insidious subjects.

[29] At a July 1976 Sex Pistols gig at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall, Curtis encountered three childhood school friends named Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook and Terry Mason.

[34] This moniker was derived from the 1953 novella The House of Dolls, which featured a Nazi concentration camp with a sexual slavery wing called the "Joy Division".

The cover of the band's first EP depicted a drawing of a Hitler Youth beating a drum and the A-side contained a song, "Warsaw", which was a musical retelling of the life of Nazi leader Rudolf Hess.

[35] After founding Factory Records[36] with Alan Erasmus, Tony Wilson signed the band to his label following its first appearance on the TV music show he hosted, So It Goes, in September 1978.

[11][n 3] While performing with Joy Division, Curtis became known for his quiet and awkward demeanour and a unique dancing style[38] reminiscent of the epileptic seizures he began experiencing in late 1978.

Initially, Curtis played Sumner's Shergold Masquerader, but in September 1979 he acquired his own guitar, a Vox Phantom VI Special which had many built-in effects used both live and in studio.

[57] The band's bassist, Peter Hook, discovered Curtis unconscious on the floor of the studio's toilets, having hit his head on a sink following a seizure.

[58] In one incident, at a concert held before almost 3,000 people at the Rainbow in Finsbury Park in April 1980, the lighting technicians at the venue – contrary to instructions given to them by Rob Gretton prior to the gig – switched on strobe lights midway through Joy Division's performance, causing Curtis to almost immediately stagger backwards and collapse against Stephen Morris's drum kit in the throes of an evident photosensitive seizure.

[63] In April 1980,[64] Terry Mason was appointed as a minder to ensure Curtis took his prescribed medications, avoided alcohol consumption and got sufficient sleep.

Peter Hook recalled, “He [Curtis] dropped a pint pot on the stage, it smashed, and he rolled around in the broken glass, cutting a ten-inch gash in his thigh.”[67] Curtis's final live performance with Joy Division was on 2 May 1980 at the High Hall of the University of Birmingham and included Joy Division's first and only performance of "Ceremony", later recorded by New Order and released as their debut single.

[72] He was having difficulty balancing his family obligations with his musical ambitions and his health was gradually worsening as a result of his epilepsy, thus increasing his dependency upon others.

In her biography, Touching from a Distance,[79] Deborah recalls finding her husband's body and initially thinking that he was still alive before noticing the rope around his neck.

[78] According to Tony Wilson,[80] Curtis spent the few hours before his suicide watching Werner Herzog's 1977 film Stroszek and listening to Iggy Pop's 1977 album The Idiot.

[32] Stark notes the significance of this album, as Pop's title was inspired by Dostoyevsky's novel The Idiot about the spiritually sensitive epileptic prince who was driven mad by the tragic and violent society in which he lived.

[43] In a 2007 interview with The Guardian, Stephen Morris expressed regret that nobody had realised during Curtis's life the distress he was in, even though it was evident in his lyrics.

The instrumental track "Elegia", released in 1985, was also written in his memory,[95] while the 2002 song "Here to Stay" was dedicated to Curtis as well as Rob Gretton and Martin Hannett.

Joy Division labelmates the Durutti Column paid tribute to Curtis in the form of "The Missing Boy", which appeared on their 1981 album LC.

This biography takes a more intimate look at Curtis and includes photographs from personal family albums and excerpts from his letters to Honoré during their relationship.

[106] Curtis was portrayed by Sean Harris in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People, which dramatised the rise and fall of Factory Records from the 1970s to the 1990s.

Sam Riley, the lead singer of the band 10,000 Things, portrays Curtis, while Samantha Morton plays his wife, Deborah.

Control portrays Curtis's secondary school romance with Deborah, their marriage, his problems balancing his domestic life with his rise to fame, his struggles with both his major depressive issues and his poorly medicated epilepsy and his later relationship with Annik Honoré.

Upon hearing this news, a fan initiated a campaign via Indiegogo to raise funds to purchase the house with intentions to preserve the property as a museum to Curtis and Joy Division.

[112] Justifying his decision, Goldman stated he intended the property to act as a Joy Division museum and as a digital hub to support musicians and other artists worldwide.