Who Is PJ Harvey? Age, Biography and Wiki
PJ Harvey, born on October 9, 1969, in Bridport, Dorset, England, is a highly acclaimed English musician known for her unique blend of rock and alternative music. With a career spanning over three decades, Harvey has garnered multiple awards, including the prestigious Mercury Prize. Her experimental approach to music and powerful lyricism has made her a prominent figure in the music industry. As of 2025, PJ Harvey is 55 years old and continues to influence new generations of artists.
| Occupation | Rock Singer |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | October 9, 1969 |
| Age | 55 Years |
| Birth Place | Bridport, Dorset, England |
| Horoscope | Libra |
| Country | England |
Popularity
PJ Harvey's Popularity over time
Height, Weight & Measurements
At approximately 5 feet 6 inches (168 cm) tall and weighing around 130 lbs (59 kg), PJ Harvey maintains a fit and slender physique. While specific body measurements are not publicly disclosed, her style often reflects an eclectic aesthetic that matches her bold artistic persona.
Harvey decided to name her new band the PJ Harvey Trio, rejecting other names as "nothing felt right at all or just suggested the wrong type of sound", and also to allow her to continue music as a solo artist. The trio consisted of Harvey on vocals and guitar, Ellis on drums and backing vocals, and Oliver on bass.
Oliver later departed to rejoin the still-active Automatic Dlamini. He was subsequently replaced with Steve Vaughan. The trio's "disastrous" debut performance was held at a skittle alley in Charmouth Village Hall in April 1991.
Harvey later recounted the event saying: "we started playing and I suppose there was about fifty people there, and during the first song we cleared the hall. There was only about two people left. And a woman came up to us, came up to my drummer, it was only a three piece, while we were playing and shouted at him 'Don't you realise nobody likes you!
We'll pay you, you can stop playing, we'll still pay you!'" The group relocated to London in June 1991 when Harvey applied to study sculpture, still undecided as to her future career. During this time, the group recorded a set of demo songs and distributed them to record labels.
Independent label Too Pure agreed to release the band's debut single "Dress" in October 1991, and later signed PJ Harvey.
"Dress" received mass critical acclaim upon its release and was voted Single of the Week in Melody Maker by guest reviewer John Peel, who admired "the way Polly Jean seems crushed by the weight of her own songs and arrangements, as if the air is literally being sucked out of them ...
admirable if not always enjoyable." However, Too Pure provided little promotion for the single and critics claim that "Melody Maker had more to do with the success of the "Dress" single than Too Pure Records." A week after its release, the band recorded a live radio session for Peel on BBC Radio 1 on 29 October featuring "Oh, My Lover", "Victory",
"Sheela-Na-Gig" and "Water".
Family, Dating & Relationship Status
Throughout her career, PJ Harvey has maintained a relatively private personal life. However, it is known that she was previously in a romantic relationship with artist and musician James Edward O'Brien, among others. As of 2025, PJ Harvey is reportedly single, focusing her time and energy on her music and artistic endeavors rather than on dating.
Her parents owned a quarrying business on Ham Hill, the site of a large Iron Age hillfort, and she grew up on the family farm in Corscombe. During her childhood, she attended Beaminster School in nearby Beaminster, where she received guitar lessons from folk singer-songwriter Steve Knightley.
Her parents introduced her to music that would later influence her work, including blues, Captain Beefheart and Bob Dylan. Her parents were avid music fans and regularly arranged get-togethers and small gigs, counting Ian Stewart among their oldest friends.
Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, PJ Harvey's estimated net worth is around $12 million. Her wealth is primarily derived from album sales, extensive touring, and various collaborations. Harvey's successful career in music, as well as her ventures in television and theater, have significantly contributed to her financial status.
Career, Business, and Investments
With her career starting in the early '90s, PJ Harvey quickly rose to prominence with her debut album, "Dry." Over the years, she has released several critically acclaimed albums, including "Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea" and "Let England Shake."
In addition to her music career, Harvey has also ventured into the world of visual art and poetry, showcasing her multifaceted talent. She has frequently collaborated with other renowned artists and remains active in the music industry, exploring new musical styles and themes.
Harvey began her career in 1988 when she joined local band Automatic Dlamini as a vocalist, guitarist and saxophonist. The band's frontman, John Parish, is still her long-term collaborator. In 1991, she formed a trio called PJ Harvey and this began her career as PJ Harvey.
The trio released two acclaimed studio albums called Dry (1992) and Rid of Me (1993) before disbanding, after which Harvey continued as a solo artist.
Since 1995, she has released a further ten studio albums with collaborations from various musicians including Parish, former bandmate Rob Ellis, Mick Harvey, and Eric Drew Feldman, and has also worked extensively with record producer Flood.
Social Network
PJ Harvey is known for being relatively private, but she maintains an active presence on platforms such as Instagram and Twitter, where she shares updates about her work and interacts with fans. While she doesn’t rely heavily on social media for promotion, her posts reflect her artistic journey and offer insights into her creative process.
The following February, the trio released "Sheela-Na-Gig" as their equally-acclaimed second single and their debut studio album, Dry (1992), followed in March. Like the singles preceding it, Dry received an overwhelming international critical response.
The album was cited by Kurt Cobain of Nirvana as his sixteenth-favourite album ever in his posthumously published Journals (2002). Rolling Stone also named Harvey as Songwriter of the Year and Best New Female Singer.
A limited edition double LP version of Dry was released alongside the regular version of the album, containing both the original and demo versions of each track, called Dry Demonstration, and the band also received significant coverage at the Reading Festival in 1992.
Education
PJ Harvey attended Yeovil College, where she studied art and drama before fully immersing herself in music. Her diverse educational background has influenced her artistic expression and played a significant role in her development as an artist.
As a teenager, Harvey began learning saxophone and joined an eight-piece instrumental group, Bologne, run by composer Andrew Dickson. She was also a guitarist with folk duo the Polekats, with whom she wrote some of her earliest material. After finishing school, she joined Yeovil College and attended a visual arts foundation course.
