Ian Stephen McCulloch (born 5 May 1959) is an English singer-songwriter and musician, best known as the lead singer of the rock band Echo & the Bunnymen.

[2] McCulloch was a singer-songwriter with the Crucial Three, one of many local bands that sprang up amongst the regulars who patronised a Liverpool club called Eric's in the late 1970s.

[3] In July 1978, along with future members of the Teardrop Explodes – Cope, Mick Finkler and Paul Simpson – and drummer Dave Pickett, McCulloch formed A Shallow Madness.

With their line-up solidified, the Bunnymen played in the late 1970s and early 1980s, releasing their critically praised debut studio album, Crocodiles in 1980, and the heavier, bass-driven Heaven Up Here in 1981.

[4] When the remaining Bunnymen continued using the name with new lead vocalist Noel Burke, the break-up became more permanent with McCulloch referring to the band as "Echo & the Bogusmen".

[12] They released their debut and sole studio album Burned which peaked at number 38 in the UK and included the top-30 hit "Sister Pain".

In 1997, Echo & the Bunnymen reformed and released their seventh studio album Evergreen to positive reviews and chart success.

In 2006, he took part in recording the team's anthem with the Bootroom Allstars – a cover version of the Johnny Cash song "Ring of Fire", and was on the judging panel for the music competition Pringles Unsung.

[16] In 2010, McCulloch featured in a guest role on the song "Some Kind of Nothingness" by the Manic Street Preachers from their tenth album Postcards from a Young Man.

[20] In October 2017, McCulloch featured on the Norwegian band a-ha's acoustic live album MTV Unplugged: Summer Solstice, singing "Scoundrel Days" and "The Killing Moon".

[21] McCulloch has cited Lou Reed,[22] Iggy Pop,[22] the Doors,[23] Leonard Cohen[24] and particularly David Bowie as influences for his work.

[22] The road on which he originally lived, Parthenon Drive, is the title of a song contained on Echo & the Bunnymen's tenth studio album, Siberia (2005).

[31] McCulloch was featured in a YouTube video appeal in October 2010 which campaigned for Tom Hicks and George Gillett to be removed from Liverpool F.C.