Ian Kevin Curtis was an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was the lead singer and lyricist of the post-punk band Joy Division and recorded two albums with the group: Unknown Pleasures and Closer. Curtis was known for his bass-baritone voice, dance style, and songwriting typically filled with imagery of desolation, emptiness, and alienation.
Musically, Curtis was influenced by a range of artists such as David Bowie, Kraftwerk, Sex Pistols, Jim Morrison, Iggy Pop, Roxy Music, Lou Reed and Neu!, as well as lyrically by writers like William Burroughs, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Friedrich Nietzsche, Jean-Paul Sartre, Franz Kafka, Hermann Hesse, T. S. Eliot, J. G. Ballard, and Yehiel De-Nur. Curtis was particularly influenced by Iggy Pop's stage persona.
Curtis, who suffered from epilepsy and depression, took his own life on the eve of Joy Division's first North American tour and shortly before the release of Closer. His death resulted in the band's dissolution and the subsequent formation of New Order.
Despite their short career, Joy Division have exerted a wide-reaching influence.