Jarvis Cocker

Born in Sheffield, Cocker grew up in the Intake area of the city and attended City School. His father, Mac Cocker, a DJ and actor, left the family and moved to Sydney when Cocker was seven, and had no contact with his son or daughter, Saskia, until Jarvis was in his thirties. Following their father's departure, both children were brought up by their mother, Christine Connolly, who later became a Conservative councillor. Cocker credits his upbringing, almost exclusively in female company, for his interest in how women think and what they have to say. He wrote a song ("A Little Soul" on This Is Hardcore) about being abandoned by his father and working briefly as a butler; in 1998, Cocker and his sister travelled to Australia to meet their father for the first time in nearly 30 years. Mac Cocker was a radio DJ in Sydney, with Double J (later renamed Triple J) in the 1970s and 1980s. By the time of his son's visit, Mac Cocker had moved to a hippie commune in Darwin, Northern Territory. Cocker said he forgave his father (who died in 2016) for abandoning them, saying, "I don't feel any bitterness towards him at all. I feel sorry for him." For much of the 1980s, Cocker lived on unemployment benefits in a derelict factory. In his twenties, Cocker squatted in London.