Born in Marylebone, London, Ant began his musical career playing bass in the band Bazooka Joe. From 1977 to 1982 he performed with Adam and the Ants and their debut album "Dirk Wears White Sox" (1979) reached number one on the UK Independent Albums Chart. Prior to recording his second album as Adam and the Ants, he asked producer Malcolm McLaren to manage his band, who instead took his backing band to form Bow Wow Wow. Ant regrouped with new members, including Marco Pirroni to release his second album "Kings of the Wild Frontier" (1980). It reached number one in the UK Album Chart, spawned three hit singles and the album was the UK number one selling album in 1981 (and the 48th best seller in 1980) and won Best British Album at the 1982 Brit Awards. He released his third and final album with the group, "Prince Charming" (1981), which spawned two UK number one singles "Stand and Deliver" and "Prince Charming".