Billy Bragg was born in 1957 in Barking, and for over thirty years has been a tireless recording artist, performer and activist. His albums include Life’s a Riot with Spy Vs Spy, Talking with the Taxman About Poetry, the treatise to coincide with the Queen’s Golden Jubilee, England, Half English, Tooth and Nail and, most recently, with Joe Henry, Shine a Light: Field Recordings from the Great American Railroad. In 2015, he published his selected lyrics, A Lover Sings. He has enjoyed a No. 1 hit single, had a street named after him, been the subject of a South Bank Show, appeared onstage at Wembley Stadium, curated Left Field at Glastonbury, shared spotted dick with a cabinet minister in the House of Commons cafeteria, been mentioned in Bob Dylan’s memoir, and shaken hands with the Queen.