Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy; 28 February 1994) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter. His self-titled debut album Jake Bugg, some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 2012 and reached number one on the UK Albums Chart. His second album, Shangri La, was released in November 2013 and his third, largely self-produced album On My One, in June 2016. His fourth album Hearts That Strain, a largely acoustic effort, produced by Dan Auerbach, was released in September 2017.
Jake Bugg was born in Nottingham to musical parents who separated when he was young. His father, whose last name was Bugg, was a nurse, and his mother worked in sales, both parents having previously made recordings. He grew up in the Clifton council estate of Nottingham and started playing guitar at the age of 12 after being introduced to the instrument by his uncle Mark. He attended The Farnborough Academy (then known as the Farnborough School Technology College) in Clifton. He also states that his formative musical moment was hearing Don McLean's "Vincent (Starry, Starry Night)" on an episode of The Simpsons. His main influences are Don McLean, Oasis, Donovan, The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Cash, and the Everly Brothers. In an interview with Absolute Radio in 2014 he also mentioned that the American heavy metal band Metallica was a huge influence to him when he first picked up the guitar as a 12-year-old. He was enrolled in a music technology course but, by the age of 16, he had dropped out and was writing and performing his own songs.