Ian Kevin Curtis (15 July 1956 – 18 May 1980) was an English musician, singer, and songwriter. He was best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division, with whom he released the albums Unknown Pleasures (1979) and Closer (1980). He was noted for his dark baritone voice, unique dancing style, and songwriting that was typically filled with imagery of loneliness, emptiness, and alienation. Curtis had epilepsy and depression and died by suicide on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour, shortly before the release of Closer. Shortly after his death, the three surviving members of the band renamed themselves New Order. Despite their short career, Joy Division have exerted a wide-reaching influence. John Bush of AllMusic argues that they "became the first band in the post-punk movement [by] emphasizing not anger and energy but mood and expression, pointing ahead to the rise of melancholy alternative music in the '80s". According to critic Simon Reynolds, Joy Division's influence has extended from contemporaries such as U2 and The Cure to later acts including Interpol, Bloc Party, and Editors, as well as rappers including Danny Brown and Vince Staples. Early life Ian Kevin Curtis was born at the Memorial Hospital in Stretford on 15 July 1956, and grew up in a working-class household in Macclesfield. He was the first of two children born to Doreen and Kevin Curtis. From an early age, he was a bookish and intelligent child, displaying a particular flair for poetry. He was awarded a scholarship at the age of 11 at Macclesfield's independent King's School. It was here that he developed his interests in philosophy, literature, and eminent poets such as Thom Gunn. While at King's School, he was awarded several scholastic awards in recognition of his abilities, particularly at the ages of 15 and 16. The year after Curtis had graduated from King's School, the family purchased a house from a relative and moved to New Moston. As a teenager, Curtis chose to perform social service by visiting the elderly as part of a school programme. While visiting, he and his friends would steal any prescription drugs that they found and later take them together as a group. On one occasion when he was 16, after consuming a large dosage of Largactil he and his friends had stolen, Curtis was discovered unconscious in his bedroom by his father