Fronted by singer-songwriter Richard Ashcroft, The Verve became Britpop hitmakers in the 1990s with a sound heavily influenced by psych-rock. ∙ The Verve’s 1993 full-length debut, A Storm in Heaven, is one of their three releases to make NME’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. ∙ The title track of 1995’s A Northern Soul was dedicated to Noel Gallagher after he wrote “Cast No Shadow”—from Oasis’ breakout (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?—about Ashcroft. ∙ Urban Hymns remains one of the UK’s top-selling albums, thanks to the Grammy-nominated smash “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” which sampled a cover of The Rolling Stones’ “The Last Time.” ∙ After an 11-year hiatus, they shot to No. 1 in the UK with 2008’s Forth, which included the hit, “Love is Noise,” partly inspired by a William Blake poem. ∙ In 2019, Ashcroft was honored with the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, celebrating his 30-year career as a songwriter.