The Tiger Lillies sing about everything from bestiality and prostitution, to paedophilia and war. Their macabre ditties and blasphemous ballads have been simultaneously shocking and charming audiences around the world since the group was founded by lyricist Martyn Jacques in 1989.
The disturbing lyrics don’t seem to put off audiences, though. The trio – percussionist Adrian Huge, Adrian Stout on double bass and falsetto singer Jacques – have garnered a cult following from London to Germany and as far afield as Australia. People can’t seem to get enough of the group’s quirky cabaret spectacle, resplendent in their ‘dickensian’ get-up and accompanied by Jacques’ operatic vocals, screaming crescendos and flail-about stage antics. And the critics seem to like them, too. Or maybe they’re just scared?
