The Chemical Brothers consisting of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons are major pioneers of big beat sound in the late 1990s. The dance formation was formed in Manchester in 1989. Tom and Ed met during a history class at university. They started together as DJs under the name Dust Brothers. Soon they became popular in clubs with a mix of house, hip-hop breaks, punk and rock. After their breakthrough with the song 'Chemical beats', the gentlemen became increasingly famous. For example, they did remix work for Primal Scream and Voodoo People by The Prodigy.
In 1999, when the big beat hype was still going on, the duo said goodbye with the album Surrender, on which more influences from techno and house can be heard and the number of breakbeats has been considerably reduced. 'Hey boy, hey girl' became the biggest hit the two had until then and was in many charts. However, this was not their last move. In 2005 they experienced a comeback with the fifth album Push the button. Their big hit Galvanize, which they recorded with the rapper Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest), became one of the dance hits of that year.
The eighth studio album Born in the echoes was released in 2015 and was the sixth album by The Chemical Brothers. The album reached number 1 in the UK. This album was also a success in various countries.
