The band's "kitchen sink drama" lyrics, coupled with its references to British culture, led to Cocker and Pulp becoming reluctant figureheads of the Britpop movement.

At their peak, Pulp headlined the Pyramid Stage of the Glastonbury Festival twice and were regarded among the Britpop "big four", along with Oasis, Blur and Suede.

After finally deciding on "Arabicus Pulp", a fixed line-up was then established: Cocker, Dalton and two friends of theirs, David "Fungus" Lockwood and Mark Swift.

[12] A local fanzine also noted this eclecticism, describing them as sounding "as if they listen to the John Peel show every night in an endless quest for influences".

This largely consisted of folkish, romantic pop songs influenced by Leonard Cohen and was a change of direction from the Peel Sessions two years earlier.

The single demonstrated a style shift advised by Red Rhino's Tony Perrin who had convinced Cocker that he "could write commercial songs like Wham!".

He was set to break up the band and go to university himself before a practice with Russell Senior (violin, guitar, vocals) and Magnus Doyle (drums) led to the establishment of a new, more experimental, artier and noisier direction for Pulp.

The new incarnation of Pulp survived a number of ill-fated gigs (including one at a rugby club at Brunel University which ended in a riot[10]) before Allcard left to be replaced on keyboards by Magnus Doyle's sister Candida.

[16] Pulp's relationship with Fire Records was tempestuous and Cocker admitted later that the band only accepted the deal as it "was the only offer on the table".

This led to him leaving for London to study film at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, effectively folding the band.

In mid-1989, they began recording another album for Fire, this time with a bigger budget and production from Alan Smyth, called Separations.

[20] Cocker was also inspired by the band Magazine's early works that "had attack to it combined with a real intelligence, without going into ponce territory".

Pulp then signed to Island Records, who jointly released (with Gift) the singles "Babies" and "Razzmatazz" to increasing chart success.

[26] This sudden increase in popularity was helped by the massive media interest in Britpop alongside acts such as Suede, Oasis and Blur, with Pulp supporting the latter in a 1994 tour of the United States.

[26] Released in October 1995, Different Class garnered significant critical praise and debuted at the top of the UK Album Chart.

[26] This was the first album featuring Pulp fan-club president Mark Webber, who became a permanent member of the band on guitar and keyboards.

The album followed similar themes to their previous work with observations of life expressed through Cocker's sexualised, sometimes dark and witty lyrics.

[citation needed] It was at this time that Cocker gained significant media exposure due to a notorious prank at the 1996 BRIT Awards, where he invaded the stage in protest during pop singer Michael Jackson's performance of "Earth Song" and "wiggled his backside" at the audience.

After complaints by Jackson and his entourage, Cocker spent the night in Kensington Police Station charged with actual bodily harm and assaulting the child performers.

It received largely negative reviews, but due to the band's popularity at the time it reached the top 10 of the UK charts.

The album took a darker and more challenging tone than that of Different Class and lyrical topics – pornography (the title track), fame ("Glory Days") and the after effects of drugs ("The Fear") – were dealt with more earnestly than on previous records.

The extended period between the release of This is Hardcore and We Love Life is partly attributed to having initially recorded the songs which comprise the album and being dissatisfied with the results.

Pulp subsequently undertook a tour of the National Parks in the UK, even playing a show as far north as Elgin in Scotland.

A music festival, Auto, was organised (held at Rotherham's Magna centre) where they played their last gig before embarking on a 9-year hiatus.

Mackey produced tracks on the debut album by M.I.A., Arular, and on Someone to Drive You Home by the Long Blondes, both of which were critically well received.

[35] Pulp were one of the surprise special guests at Glastonbury Festival 2011 in June where they played on The Park stage on Saturday evening.

Further dates were announced, including North and South America and a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Band members Jarvis Cocker, Nick Banks, Steve Mackey, Candida Doyle and Mark Webber were present at the ceremony.

"[49] The reunion was officially confirmed on 28 October 2022, with dates announced at Finsbury Park, TRNSMT, Latitude Festival as well as two homecoming shows at Sheffield Arena.

Steve Mackey announced on his Instagram that he would not be taking part in the tour but stated; "Wishing Candy, Nick, Mark and Jarvis the very best with forthcoming performances in the UK and also an enormous thanks to Pulp's amazing fanbase, many of whom have sent me lovely messages today".