The Stranglers
The Stranglers performing in Chicago in 2013
Background information
Origin	Guildford, Surrey, England
Genres	Punk rock[1] new wave[2] post-punk[3] art rock[4] pub rock (early)[2]
Works	The Stranglers discography
Years active	1974 (1974)–present
Labels	United Artists A&M Liberty EMI Epic Parlophone Stiff Castle Communications
Members	Jean-Jacques Burnel Baz Warne Jim Macaulay[5] Toby Hounsham
Past members	Jet Black Hugh Cornwell Hans Wärmling Dave Greenfield John Ellis Paul Roberts
Website	thestranglers.co.uk

The Stranglers are an English rock band formed in 1974. Scoring 23 UK top 40 singles and 20 UK top 40 albums to date in a career spanning five decades, the Stranglers are one of the longest-surviving bands to have originated in the UK punk scene.

Formed as the Guildford Stranglers in Guildford, Surrey, in early 1974,^[6] they originally built a following within the mid-1970s pub rock scene. While their aggressive, no-compromise attitude had them identified by the media with the emerging UK punk rock scene that followed, their idiosyncratic approach rarely followed any single musical genre, and the group went on to explore a variety of musical styles, from new wave, art rock and gothic rock to the sophisti-pop of some of their 1980s output. They had major mainstream success with their 1982 single "Golden Brown". Their other hits include "No More Heroes", "Peaches", "Always the Sun", "Skin Deep" and "Big Thing Coming".

The Stranglers' early sound was driven by Jean-Jacques Burnel's heavy, melodic bass, but also gave prominence to Dave Greenfield's keyboards. Their early music was also characterised by the growling vocals and sometimes misanthropic lyrics of both Burnel and Hugh Cornwell.^[7] Over time, their output gradually grew more refined and sophisticated. Summing up their contribution to popular music, critic Dave Thompson later wrote: "From bad-mannered yobs to purveyors of supreme pop delicacies, the group was responsible for music that may have been ugly and might have been crude – but it was never, ever boring."^[8]

They experienced several line-up changes. After Cornwell's departure in 1990, Burnel, drummer Jet Black and Greenfield were the only constant members of the band until Black's retirement in 2018 and Greenfield's death in 2020.