Arctic Monkeys tour: Alex Turner goes viral for changing rhythm and lyrics whilst singing at live shows

The Arctic Monkeys kicked off their UK and Ireland tour last week with a show for the ages at Ashton Gate in Bristol. The Sheffield-formed group have since rocked stages in Coventry, Manchester, Middlesbrough, and Norwich. This Friday, the group will return home to Sheffield for two massive shows at Hillsborough Park.

Alex Turner, the band’s lead singer, has recently gone viral on Twitter for the way he sings when performing live. An Arctic Monkeys fan’s tweet poking fun at the singer has amassed over 6.4 million views.

The tweet, from the account @THEPIXlES reads: “I'm so sorry but alex turner changing the lyrics and rhythm of every arctic monkeys song during their live shows so no one is able to sing along is literally the funniest s**t ive ever seen and i admire how committed he is to the bit”.

Arctic Monkeys fans have responded to the hilarious tweet, which currently has over 145,000 likes. One user reminisced on their own experience of Alex’s unique performance style, and wrote: “Him in 2018 when started Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High and instead of "The mirror's image" said "Merry Christmas.” The second-most-liked response to the tweet read: “it’s even funnier when yk it started w him just being too drunk to be able to follow the music 😭😭”.

Another fan responded with a hilarious TikTok of an Alex Turner impersonation, which has already received almost 13,000 likes on Twitter.

Alex’s live singing has been a topic of conversation amongst AM fans for quite some time. A Reddit thread from almost three years ago sees users speculating about why the frontman sings like this during live shows. One user said: “Alex sometimes gets sloppy with his singing live”. Another responded: “I really think it depends on his mood”. A third user added: “I think he really thrives in front of an active crowd”.

Although he has not addressed the reason why his singing appears ‘sloppy’ during live performances, it’s clear that Arctic Monkeys supporters adore Alex Turner, and there is no malice intended behind their comments. Those who are dedicated enough to watch the band live, no doubt embrace Alex’s singing style as one of the many quirks which make the indie-rock band so great.