Irish band Kneecap have had a meteoric rise in the music industry, with tens of millions of streams on Spotify alone and widespread critical acclaim.
The trio’s genre-bending rap/hip hop tracks, performed in a mixture of English and Irish-language, have clearly resonated with a mainstream audience, but their many controversial moments – some of them seemingly intentional – have helped them hit such heights.
Here’s what you need to know about the band and their most notorious moments.
Who’s in the band?
The group is made up of three friends from Belfast: Mo Chara (Liam Og O Hannaidh), Moglai Bap (Naoise O Caireallain) and DJ Provai (JJ O Dochartaigh).
The latter is a former teacher who still wears a balaclava, initially to disguise himself from his students when the band started out in 2017.
Kneecap performing in Belfast last year. Pic: PA
They were controversial from the get-go – and seemingly by design.
Their debut track – CEARTA – is based on how band member Bap was stopped by police for spray-painting cearta, the Irish word for rights, on a bus stop.
Before fame, Bap and Chara, who have known each other for around 15 years, transformed a former youth club into party hub, where they would play their favourite tracks.
And it was through this venture into the club space that they later met DJ Provai.
The group called themselves Kneecap in reference to kneecapping, a common form of paramilitary punishment in Northern Ireland during The Troubles which sees someone shot or hit repeatedly on both knees.
From cult heroes to mainstream success
Kneecap released their first mixtape, 3cag, in 2018 to critical acclaim, and their 2019 single HOOD is their most streamed single to date.
But their success reached new levels in 2024 with the release of their 18-track album, Fine Art, which culminated in a headline-worthy crowd attending their early-morning timeslot at Glastonbury.
Kneecap played a headline-worthy set at Glastonbury
The band then ventured into the film industry with a self-titled biopic about their rise to prominence, set in post-Troubles Belfast, starring themselves alongside Irish actor Michael Fassbender.
Before its full release last summer, it had been the talk of various film festivals, including Tribeca in New York.
Speaking to Sky News at Glastonbury last year, the band said the reaction had been “crazy”.
Since then it’s got crazier, with the film getting six BAFTA nominations and earning its writer and director Rich Peppiatt a win for Outstanding Debut.
Kneecap on the BAFTA Film Awards 2025 red carpet with film director Rich Peppiatt. Pic: PA
The band cracked the UK and are now following suit in the US, having sold out several shows there.
Court battle with the UK government
It would take a long time to cover all of Kneecap’s controversial moments; much of it is a part of their music itself.
They have been banned from Irish public service broadcaster RTE for their references to drug-taking.
But there have been some particularly high-profile incidents since 2024.
Kneecap fans during the Electric Picnic Festival in 2022. File pic: PA
The first was their legal battle with the then-Conservative UK government, who blocked a grant for the band which was initially approved by the British Phonographic Industry.
The group’s application to the Music Export Growth Scheme, which supports UK-registered artists in global markets, was for £14,250, but Kemi Badenoch, then business secretary, stopped it.
At the time, a government spokesperson said it fully supported freedom of speech, but that it was “hardly surprising” it did not want to hand out UK taxpayers’ money to those opposed to the United Kingdom.
One of their most famous tracks had been 2019’s Get Your Brits Out, which had been criticised for being anti-British.
The trio have always denied this being the case.
Chara told Sky News after their Glastonbury set: “This is a thing that people love to spin, like we’re some anti-British band.
“We have English family. We have loads of good friends who call themselves British. It’s the British government we don’t like.”
Kneecap won a discrimination case against the UK government in November, earning them the same amount that the grant was worth.
Band celebrates after court win in November. Pic: PA
DJ Provai said the band’s motivation was “equality”.
“For us, this action was never about £14,250; it could have been 50p,” he said, after the band said it would donate the funds to two Belfast charities.
“This was an attack on artistic culture, an attack on the Good Friday Agreement itself and an attack on Kneecap and our way of expressing ourselves.”
Calling for deaths of Conservative MPs
Police say they are assessing a video of a Kneecap performance from November 2023, in which a member of the trio allegedly called for the death of Conservative MPs.
The member is alleged to have said: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.”
Two British MPs have been murdered in the past 10 years – Labour’s Jo Cox in 2016 and Conservative Sir David Amess in 2021.
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MPs daughter calls for Kneecap apology on The Sarah-Jane Mee Show
In a statement, Kneecap said they rejected “any suggestion that we would seek to incite violence against any MP or individual. Ever.”
They added: “An extract of footage, deliberately taken out of all context, is now being exploited and weaponised, as if it were a call to action.
“To the Amess and Cox families, we send our heartfelt apologies, we never intended to cause you hurt.”
Pro-Palestinian messages at gigs
The investigation into the MP comments was announced several days after the Met said it had referred a different video from a Kneecap gig to be reviewed by counter-terror police.
Footage from that gig, at London’s Kentish Town Forum last November, appeared to show one member of the group shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.
Hamas and Hezbollah are both proscribed as terrorist groups in the UK. Under Section 12 of the Terrorism Act 2000, it is an offence to express “an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation”.
The police say they are “assessing” both clips to “determine whether further police investigation is required”.
Kneecap have said they are facing a “co-ordinated smear campaign” after speaking out about “the ongoing genocide against the Palestinian people”.
Kneecap fans at one of their concerts in 2022. File pic: PA
In their statement, they said: “Let us be unequivocal: we do not, and have never, supported Hamas or Hezbollah. We condemn all attacks on civilians, always. It is never okay. We know this more than anyone, given our nation’s history.
“Kneecap’s message has always been – and remains – one of love, inclusion, and hope. This is why our music resonates across generations, countries, classes and cultures and has brought hundreds of thousands of people to our gigs.”
Investigation comes after Coachella fallout
Just days before the police investigations were announced, TV personality Sharon Osbourne called for Kneecap’s US work visas to be revoked after accusing them of making “aggressive political statements” including “projections of anti-Israel messages and hate speech” at Coachella Music and Arts Festival.
As the band performed on the second night, they displayed words on the big screen reading: “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.
“It is being enabled by the US government who arm and fund Israel despite their war crimes. F*** Israel. Free Palestine”.
Israel’s ongoing offensive in Gaza, which came after Hamas gunmen launched an attack killing 1,200 people in Israel on 7 October 2023, has seen at least 52,000 people killed, according to the Gaza health ministry.
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Speaking to Rolling Stone after Osbourne’s comments, Kneecap member Mo Chara said: “Her rant has so many holes in it that it hardly warrants a reply, but she should listen to War Pigs that was written by Black Sabbath [led by Ozzy Osbourne, her husband].”
He also told the outlet: “We believe we have an obligation to use our platform when we can to raise the issue of Palestine, and it was important for us to speak out at Coachella as the USA is the main funder and supplier of weapons to Israel as they commit genocide in Gaza.”
Kneecap has been continually outspoken in favour of Palestinians at gigs.
In November, DJ Provai arrived for the court verdict against the UK government in a vehicle bearing the Irish and Palestinian flags and blaring loud music.
