Buzzcocks are an English punk rock band that singer-songwriter-guitarist Pete Shelley and singer-songwriter Howard Devoto formed in Bolton in 1976. During their career, the band combined elements of punk rock, power pop, and pop punk. They achieved commercial success with singles that fuse pop craftsmanship with rapid-fire punk energy; these singles were later collected on Singles Going Steady, an acclaimed compilation album music journalist and critic Ned Raggett described as a "punk masterpiece".
Devoto left the band in 1977, after which Pete Shelley became the principal singer-songwriter.[9] After releasing three albums, the band broke up in 1981 following a dispute with their record label, and reunited in 1989 and released six more albums before Shelley's death in 2018.[10] The band has remained active, being led by their original bassist Steve Diggle, who assumed guitarist-and-singer duties, and this line-up released the 2022 album Sonics in the Soul.